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the 



RELIGION OF GEOLOGY 



AND ITS 



CONNECTED SCIENCES 



BY 



EDWARD HITCHCOCK, D.D., LL.D., 

PRESIDENT OF AMHERST COLLEGE, AND PROFESSOR OF NATURAL THEOLOGY 
AND GEOLOGY. 



"Science has a foundation, and so has religion ; lei them unite their foundations, and the basis will be 
broader, and tiiey will be two compartments >jI one great fabric reared to tlie glory of GhI. Let the one be 
the outer and the olher the inner court. In the one, let nil look, and admire, and adore, and j n (he other, 
lei (liosr who have faith kneel, and pray, anil praise. Let tlie one be the sanctuary where'mman learning 
may present its richest incense as an offering to God ; and the other the holiest of all, separate f lom it by a 
veil now rent in twain, and in which, on a blood-sprinkled mercy seat, we pour out the love of i-reconciled 
heart, and hear the oracles of the living God." — AfCozh. 



BOSTON: 

PHII.LIPS, SAMPSON, AND COMPANY. 

1852. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 

PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, & CO., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 



By Transfer f rom 
0.e.NavalAc ademy 
Aue; 26 1932 



STEREOTYPED AT THE 
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY 



ail 



i^ 



TO MY BELOVED WIFE. 

Both gratitude and affection prompt me to dedicate 
these lectures to you. To your kindness and self-deny- 
ing labors I have been mainly indebted for the ability 
and leisure to give any successful attention to scientific 
pursuits. Early should I have sunk under the pressure 
of feeble health, nervous despondency, poverty, and 
blighted hopes, had not your sympathies and cheering 
counsels sustained me. And during the last thirty years 
of professional labors, how little could I have done in 
the cause of science, had you not, in a great measure, 
relieved me of the cares of a numerous family ! Further- 
more, while I have described scientific facts with the pen 
only, how much more vividly have they been portrayed 
by your pencil ! And it is peculiarly appropriate that 
your name should be associated with mine in any literary 
effort where the theme is geology ; since your artistic 
skill has done more than my voice to render that science 
attractive to the young men whom I have instructed. I 
love especially to connect your name with an effort to 



IV DEDICATION. 

defend and illustrate that religion which I am sure is 
dearer to you than every thing else. I know that you 
would forbid this public allusion to your labors and sac- 
rifices, did I not send it forth to the world before it 
meets your eye. But I am unwilling to lose this oppor- 
tunity of bearing a testimony which both justice and 
affection urge me to give. In a world where much is 
said of female deception and inconstancy, I desire to 
testify that one man at least has placed implicit confi- 
dence in woman, and has not been disappointed. Through 
many checkered scenes have we passed together, both 
on the land and the sea, at home and in foreign countries ; 
and now the voyage of life is almost ended. The ties 
of earthly affection, which have so long united us in 
uninterrupted harmony and happiness, will soon be sun- 
dered. But there are ties which death cannot break; 
and we indulge the hope that by them we shall be 
linked together and to the throne of God through 
eternal ages. 

In life and in death I abide 

Your affectionate husband, 

EDWARD HITCHCOCK. 



PREFACE 



Most of the following lectures were written as much 
as eight or ten years ago, though additions and alterations 
have been made, from time to time, to adapt them to the prog- 
ress of science. They were undertaken at the suggestion of 
my friend, Rev. Henry Neill, then of Hatfield, now of Lenox. 
I had no definite intention as to the use to be made of the lec- 
tures ; but having for many years turned my attention to the 
bearings of science, and especially of geology, upon religion, 
I felt a desire to put upon paper the final results of my exam- 
inations. I threw them into the lecture form, that I might, if 
best, deliver them to the geological classes which I should in- 
struct in the college with which I am connected. This I have 
done for many years, and also have used them in various 
places before lyceums. They are at length published, from 
a conviction that something of the kind, from some quarter, 
is needed. Many of the thoughts, indeed, which, at the time 
they were put upon paper, were original, have since been 
brought out by other writers. Yet enough of this description 
probably remain to expose me to severe criticism. I beg the 
intelligent Christian, however, before he condemns my views, 
to settle it in his mind what he can substitute for them that 
will be more honorable to religion. It is much easier to find 
fault with a mode of defending the truth than to invent a 



VI PREFACE. 

better method. We may not be pleased with certain views in 
vindication of religion, and yet the alternative of rejecting 
them may be so much worse as to lead us at least to be silent. 
Would that Christian critics had always kept this fact in mind 
when writing upon the views of geologists ! They would 
find often that they are straining at a gnat and must swallow 
a camel. 

If my views are erroneous, as exhibited in these lectures, I 
cannot plead that they have been hastily adopted. Most of 
them, indeed, have been the subjects of thought occasionally 
for thirty years. I hope, however, that all my suggestions 
will not be thought of equal importance in my own estima- 
tion ; since some of them are merely hypothetical hints 
thrown out for the consideration of abler minds. 

This work does not exhibit quite so much of logical exactness 
as I could wish. But my leading object has been fully carried 
out, viz., to exhibit all the religious bearings of geology. 
Several of the lectures, however, have been written as if in- 
dependent of all the rest ; and, therefore, the reader will find 
some leading thoughts repeated, but always in different 
connections. 

After acknowledging that more than a quarter of a century 
has elapsed since this subject first engaged my attention, it 
may be useless for me to ask any indulgence from criticism. 
But really, I feel less prepared to write upon it than I did 
during the first five years in which I studied it. I have learnt 
that it is a most difficult subject. It requires, in order to mas- 
ter it, an acquaintance with three distinct branches of knowl- 
edge, not apt to go together. First, an acquaintance with 
geology in all its details, and with the general principles of 
zoology, botany, and comparative anatomy ; secondly, a 
knowledge of sacred hermeneutics, or the principles of inter- 



PREFACE. VI I 

preting the Scriptures ; thirdly, a clear conception of the 
principles of natural and revealed religion. 

As examples of efforts made by men who were deficient in 
a knowledge of some of these branches, I am compelled to 
quote a large proportion of the works which, within the last 
thirty or forty years, have been written on the religion of geol- 
ogy ; especially on its connection with revealed religion. I 
am happy to except such writers as Dr. J. Pye S -nith, Dr. 
Chalmers, Dr. Harris, Dr. Buckland, Professor Sedgwick, Pro- 
fessor Whewell, Dr. King, Dr. Anderson, and Hugh Miller ; 
for they, to a greater or less extent, acquainted themselves 
with all the subjects named above, before they undertook to 
write. But a still larger number of authors, although men of 
talents, and familiar, it may be, with the Bible and theology, 
had no accurate knowledge of geology. The results have 
been, first, that, by resorting to denunciation and charges of 
infidelity, to answer arguments from geology which they did 
not understand, they have excited unreasonable prejudices 
and alarm among common Christians respecting that science 
and its cultivators ; secondly, they have awakened disgust, 
and even contempt, among scientific. men, especially those of 
sceptical tendencies, who have inferred that a cause which 
resorts to such defences must be very weak. They have felt 
very much as a good Greek scholar would, who should read 
a severe critique upon the style of Isocrates, or Demosthenes, 
and, before he had finished the review, should discover inter- 
nal evidence that the writer had never learnt the Greek 
alphabet. 

On the other hand, prejudices and disgust equally strong 
have been produced in the mind of many a man well versed 
in theology and biblical exegesis by some productions of sci- 
entific men upon the religious bearings of geology, because 



Vlll PREFACE. 

they advanced principles which the merest tyro in divinity 
would know to be false and fatal to religion, and which they 
advocated only because they had never studied the Bible or 
theology. 

And here I would remark that it does not follow, because a 
man is eminent in geology, that his opinion is of any value 
upon the religion of geology. For the two subjects are quite 
distinct. \nd a man may be a Coryphseus in the principles 
of geology, who is an ignoramus in its religious applications. 
Indeed, many of the ablest writers upon geology take the 
ground that its religious bearings do not belong to the science. 

These statements, instead of pleading my apology for the 
following work, may only show my temerity and vanity. Nev- 
ertheless, they afford me an opportunity of calling the attention 
of the religious public to the great inadequacy of the means now 
possessed of acquiring a knowledge of the different branches 
of natural science. I refer especially to comparative anat- 
omy, zoology, botany, and geology, in our literary and theo- 
logical seminaries. The latter, so far as I know, do not pre- 
tend to give any instruction in these branches. And in our 
colleges that instruction is confined almost entirely to a few 
brief courses of lectures ; often so few that the students 
scarcely find out how ignorant they are of the subjects ; and 
hence those who are expecting to enter the sacred ministry 
vainly imagine that, at almost any period of their future 
course, they can, in a few weeks, become sufficiently ac- 
quainted with physical science to meet and refute the sceptic. 
In all our seminaries, however, abundant provision is made, 
as it ought to be, for the study of intellectual philosophy and 
biblical interpretation. 

So well satisfied are two of the most enlightened and effi- 
cient Christian denominations in Great Britain — the Congre- 



PREFACE. IX 

gationalists and the Scottish Free Church — of the need of 
more extensive acquaintance with the natural sciences in min- 
isters of the gospel, that they have attached a professorship 
of natural history to their theological seminaries. That in the 
New College in Edinburgh is filled by the venerable Dr. 
Fleming ; that in the New College in London by Dr. Lan- 
kester. From a syllabus of Dr. Fleming's course of lectures, 
which he put into my hands last summer, I perceive that it 
differs little from the instruction in natural science in the col- 
leges of our country. This being the case, it strikes me that 
this is not exactly the professorship that is needed in the 
theological seminaries of our country. But they do need, it 
seems to me, professorships of natural theology, to be filled 
by men who are practically familiar with the natural sciences. 
If any such chairs exist in these seminaries, I do not know it. 
They are amply provided with instruction in the metaphysics 
of theology, hermeneutics, and ecclesiastical history ; and I 
should be sorry to see these departments less amply provided 
for. But here is the wide field of natural theology, large 
enough for several professorships, which finds no place, save 
a nook in the chair of dogmatics. This might have answered 
well enough when the battle-field with scepticism lay in the 
region of metaphysics, or history, or biblical interpretation. 
But the enemy have, within a few years past, intrenched 
themselves within the dominions of natural science ; and there, 
for a long time to come, must be the tug of the war. And 
since they have substituted skeletons, and trees, and stones, 
as weapons, in the place of abstractions, so must Christians 
do, if they would not be defeated. Let me refer to a few 
examples to show how inadequately furnished the minister 
must be for such a contest, who has used only the means of 
instruction provided in our existing seminaries, literary and 
theological. 



X PREFACE. 

Take the leading points discussed in the following lectures. 
How can a man who has heard only a brief and hurried 
course of thirty lectures on chemistry, twenty on anatomy 
and physiology, fifteen upon zoology, ten upon botany, ten 
upon mineralogy, and twenty upon geology, at the college, 
with no additional instruction at the theological seminary, — 
how can he judge correctly of points and reasoning difficult 
to be mastered by adepts in these sciences ? How certain to 
be worsted in an argument with an accomplished naturalist 
who is a sceptic ! 

Suppose the sceptic takes the ground advocated by Oken 
and the author of the " Vestiges." Let the clergyman, whom 
I have supposed, read the works of Miller and Sedgwick in 
reply to the development hypothesis, and see whether he can 
even understand their arguments without a more careful study 
of the sciences on which they rest. 

A subject of no small importance in its religious bearings 
has recently excited a good deal of sharp discussion in this 
country. I refer to the questions of the specific unity and 
unity of- origin of the human race. To a person who has 
never studied the subject, it seems a matter easy to settle ; 
yet, in fact, it demands extensive research even to understand. 
And we have seen one of the most accomplished zoologists 
and anatomists of the present age take ground on these points 
in opposition to the almost universal opinion. The result has 
been that not a few talented replies to his arguments have 
appeared, mostly, I believe, from ministers. I have not seen 
them all. But in respect to those which I have read it has 
seemed to me, without having the least sympathy with the 
views of Professor Agassiz, that the authors have not the most 
remote conception of the principal arguments on which he 
relies, derived from zoology and comparative anatomy ; nor 



PREFACE. XI 

do I b o1 'Bve that they can understand and appreciate them 
until they have studied those sciences.* 

Although I fear that theologians are not aware of the 
fact, yet probably the doctrines of materialism are more 
widely embraced at this day than almost any other reli- 
gious error. But in which of our schools, save the medical, 
is there any instruction given in physiology and zoology, 
that will prepare a man to make the least headway against 
such delusions ? The arguments by which materialism is 
defended are among the most subtle in the whole range of 
theology and natural science ; and without a knowledge of 
the latter they can neither be appreciated nor refuted. The 
mere metaphysical abstractions by which they are usually met 
excite only the contempt of the acute physiologist who is a 
materialist. 

I might refer, in this connection, to the whole subject of 
pantheism, in its chameleon forms. The rhapsodies of spir- 
itual pantheism must, indeed, be met by metaphysics equally 
transcendental. But, after all, it is from biology that the pan- 
theist derives his choicest weapons. He appeals, also, to 
astronomy, zoology, and geology ; nor is it the superficial 
naturalist that can show how hollow is the foundation on 
which he rests. 

These are only a few examples of the points of physical 
science on which scepticism at this moment has batteries 
erected with which to assail spiritual religion. Will the min- 
ister but slightly familiar with the ground chosen by the enemy 
be able not only to silence his guns, but, as every able de- 
fender of the truth ought to do, to turn them against its foes ? 



* I ought surely to except the work of Professor Bachman, which 
I have not read, but which was certainly written by an able naturalist. 



Xll PREFACE. 

Surely it needs a professor of natural theology in our theo- 
logical seminaries, (and if such chairs existed in our colleges 
they would be serviceable,) to teach those who expect to be 
officers in the sacramental host how to carry on the holy war. 
I do not see how much more time can be given to the natural 
sciences in our colleges than is usually done, without encroach- 
ing upon other indispensable branches. If, therefore, pro- 
vision be not made for studying the religious bearings of these 
sciences in our theological seminaries, our youthful evan- 
gelists must go forth to their work without the ability to vindi- 
cate the cause of religion against the assaults of the sceptical 
naturalist. Would not, then, those wealthy and benevolent 
individuals be great public benefactors, who should endow 
professorships of natural religion in our schools of the 
prophets ?- 

But I must not pursue this subject farther. I commit my 
work to the public with no raised expectations of its welcome 
reception. I have a high opinion of the enlightened candor 
of the educated classes of our country, especially those in 
the ministry. Yet I know that many prejudices exist against 
science in its connections with religion. And, therefore, my 
only hope of any measure of success in this effort rests upon 
the divine blessing. But if the work be not pleasing to Infi- 
nite Wisdom and Benevolence, why should I desire for it an 
ephemeral success among men ? 

Amherst College, May 1, 1851. 



EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE. 

Tnis section of the earth's crust is intended to bring under the eye 
the leading features of geology. 

1. The relative Position of the Stratified and the Unstratified Bocks. 

The unstratified rocks, viz., granite, sienite, porphyry, trap, and lava, 
are represented as lying beneath the stratified class, for the most part, 
yet piercing through them in the centre of the section, and by several 
dikes or veins, through which masses have been protruded to the sur- 
face. The unstratified class are all colored red, to indicate their igneous 
origin. Granite seems to have been first melted and protruded, and it 
continued to be pushed upward till the close of the secondary period of 
the stratified rocks, as is shown by the vein of granite on the section. 
Sienite and porphyry seem to have been next thrust up, from below 
the granite ; next, the varieties of trap were protruded from beneath the 
porphyry ; and last, the lava, which still continues to be poured out 
upon the surface from beneath all the rest. 

2. The Stratified Rocks. 

The stratified rocks represented on both flanks of the granite peak in 
the section, appear to have been deposited from water, and subsequently 
more or less lifted up, fractured, and bent. An attempt is made, on the 
right hand side of the section, to exhibit the foldings and inclination of 
the strata. The lowest are bent the most, and their dip is the greatest ; 
and, as a general fact, there is a gradual approach to horizontality as we 
. rise on the scale. 

3. The right hand side of the Section. 

The strata on the right hand are divided into five classes : first and 
lowest, the crystalline, or primary, destitute of organic remains, and prob- 
ably metamorphosed from a sedimentary to a crystalline state, by the 
action of subjacent heat. 2. The palaeozoic class, or those containing the 
earliest types of animals and plants, and of vast thickness, mostly depos- 
ited in the ocean. 3. The secondary class, reaching from the top of the 
lower new red or Permian system, to the top of the chalk. 4. The ter- 
tiary strata, partially consolidated, and differing entirely from the rocks 
below by their organic contents. 5. Alluvium, or strata now in a course 
of deposition. This classification is sometimes convenient, and frequent- 
ly used by geologists. 
I 



XIV EXPLANATION OF fHE FRONTISPIECE. 

4. The left hand Side. 

On the left hand side of the section the strata are so divided as to cor- 
respond to the six great groups of animals and plants that have appeared 
on the globe. The names attached to the groups are derived from two?, 
(vivus, living,) with the Greek numerals prefixed. The lowest group, 
being destitute of organic remains, is called azoic, (from a privitive and 
twos,) that is, wanting in the traces of life ; and corresponds to the crys- 
talline group on the other side of the section, embracing gneiss, mica 
slate, limestone, and clay slate, of unknown thickness. The protozoic 
group corresponds to the palaeozoic of the right hand side, and embraces 
lower and upper Silurian, Devonian, or old red sandstone, the carbonifer- 
ous group, and the Permian, or lower new red; the whole in Great 
Britain not less than thirty- three thousand feet thick. The deutozoic group 
consists only of the triassic, or upper new red sandstone, and is only nine 
hundred feet thick, but marks a distinct period of life. The tritozoic em- 
braces the lias and oolite, with the Wealden, and is three thousand six 
hundred feet thick. The tetrazoic consists of the chalk and green sand, 
one thousand five hundred feet thick. The pentezoic embraces the ter- 
tiary strata of the thickness of two thousand feet. The hectozoic is con- 
fined to the modern deposits, only a few hundred feet thick, but entomb- 
ing all the existing species of animals. 

5. Characteristic Organic Remains. 

Had space permitted, I should have put upon the section a reference 
to the most characteristic and peculiar mineral, animal, or plant, in the 
different groups. Thus the azoic group is crystalliferous, or crystal-bear- 
ing. The lower or Silurian part of the protozoic group is brachiopodifer- 
ous, trilobiferous, polypiferous, and cephalopodiferous ; that is, abounding 
in brachiopod and cephalopod shells ; in polypifers, or corals ; and in 
trilobites, a family of crustaceans. The middle part, or the Devonian, is 
thaumichthiferous, or containing remarkable fish. The upper part, or the 
coal measures, is carboniferous ; that is, abounding in coal. The deuto- 
zoic group is ichniferous, or track-bearing, from the multitude of its fossil 
footmarks. The tritozoic group is reptiliferous, or reptile-bearing, from the 
extraordinary lizards Avhich abound in it. The tetrazoic is foraminiferous. 
from the abundance of coral animalcula, called foraminifera, or polythal- 
mia, which it contains. The pentezoic is mammaliferous, because it con- 
tains the remains of mammalia, or quadrupeds. The hectozoic is homo- 
niferous, or man-bearing, because it embraces human remains. 

There is no one place on earth where all the facts exhibited on 
this section are presented before us together. Yet all the facts occur 
somewhere, and this section merely brings them into systematic ar- 
rangement. 



CONTENTS 



LECTURE I. 
REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE, 



Page 



LECTURE II. 
THE EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED, . 33 

LECTURE III. 

DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW OF ORGANIC BEINGS ON THIS 
GLOBE FROM THE BEGINNING, . 71 

LECTURE IV. 

THE NOACHIAN DELUGE COMPARED WITH THE GEOLOGI- 
CAL DELUGES, .... 112 

LECTURE V. 
THE WORLD'S SUPPOSED ETERNITY, 146 

LECTURE VI. 
GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF THE DIVINE BENEVOLENCE, . 179 



XVI CONTENTS. 



LECTURE VII. 

Page 
DIVINE BENEVOLENCE AS EXHIBITED IN A FALLEN WORLD, 219 



LECTURE VIII. 

UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN AND OPEBATION IN ALL AGES 
OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY, ....... 252 

LECTURE IX. 
THE HYPOTHESIS OF CREATION BY LAW, .... 285 

LECTURE X. 
SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE, .... 327 

LECTURE XI. 
THE FUTURE CONDITION AND DESTINY OF THE EARTH, 370 

LECTURE XII. 
THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE, ... 409 

LECTURE XIII. 
THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH, 445 

- LECTURE XIV. 

SCIENTIFIC TRUTH, RIGHTLY APPLIED, IS RELIGIOUS 
TRUTH , .476 



THE 



RELIGION OF GEOLOGY 



LECTURE I. 
REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

The leading object, which I propose in the course of lec- 
tures which I now commence, is to develop the relations be- 
tween geology and religion. This cannot be done fully and 
fairly, however, without exhibiting also many of the religious 
bearings of several other sciences. I shall, therefore, feel 
justified in drawing illustrations and arguments from any 
department of human knowledge which may afford them. I 
place geology first and most conspicuous on the list, because 
I know of no other branch of physical science so prolific in 
its religious applications. 

In treating of this subject, I shall first exhibit the relations 
between science and revealed religion, and afterwards be- 
tween science and natural religion ; though in a few cases 
these two great branches cannot be kept entirely distinct. 

Geology is usually regarded as having only an unfavorable 

bearing upon revealed religion ; and writers are generally 

satisfied if they can reconcile apparent discrepancies. But I 

regard this as an unfair representation ; for if geology, or any 

1 



2 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

other science, proves to us that we have not fairly understood 
the meaning of any passage of Scripture, it merely illus- 
trates, but does not oppose, revelation. 

A fundamental principle of Protestant Christianity is, that 
the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the only 
infallible standard of religious truth ; and I desire to hold up 
this principle prominently at the outset, as one to which I 
cordially subscribe. The mass of evidence in favor of the 
divine inspiration of the Bible is too great to be set aside by 
any thing short of scientific demonstration. Were the Scrip- 
tures to teach that the whole is not equal to its parts, the 
mind could not, indeed, believe it. But if it taught a truth 
which was only contrary to the probable deductions of sci- 
ence, science, I say, must yield to Scripture ; for it would 
be more reasonable to doubt the probabilities of a single sci- 
ence, than the various and most satisfactory evidence on 
which revelation rests. , I do not believe that even the proba- 
bilities of any science are in collision with Scripture. Bui 
the supposition is made to show how strong are my convic- 
tions of the evidence and paramount authority of the Bible. 

But does it follow, from these positions, that science can 
throw no light upon the truths of Scripture ? By no means ; 
and it will be my leading object, in this lecture, to show how 
this may be done by science in general, and by geology in 
particular. 

In discussing this subject, we ought to bear in mind the object 
of science, and the object of revelation. And by the term 
science I refer mainly to physical science. Its grand aim is, 
by an induction from facts, to discover the laws by which the 
material universe is governed. Those laws do, indeed, lead 
the mind almost necessarily to their divine Author. But this 
is rather the incidental than the direct result of scientific 



OBJECT OF REYELATIOIt. 3 

investigations, and belongs rather to natural theology than 
to natural science. 

On the other hand, the exclusive object of revelation is of 
a moral character. It is a development of the divine char- 
acter and the divine government; especially that part of it 
which discloses a plan for the reconciliation of a lost and 
wicked world to the favor of God by the death of his Son. 
Every other subject mentioned in Scripture is incidental, and 
would not have been noticed had it not some connection with 
the plan of salvation. The creation of the world and the 
Noachian deluge, for instance, are intimately related to the 
divine character and government, and therefore they are 
described ; and the same is true of the various phenomena of 
nature which are touched upon in the Bible. 

If these positions be correct, it follows, that as we ought 
not to expect to find the doctrines of religion in treatises on 
science, so it is unreasonable to look for the principles of phi- 
losophy in the Bible. Nay, we ought not to expect to find 
the terms used by the sacred writers employed in their strict 
scientific sense, but in their popular acceptation. Indeed, as 
the Scriptures were generally addressed to men in the earliest 
and most simple states of society, with very limited views of 
the extent of creation^ we ought to suppose that, in all cases 
where no new fact is revealed, the language was adapted to 
the narrow ideas which then prevailed. When, for instance, 
the sacred writers speak of the rising and setting of the sun, 
we cannot suppose they used language with astronomical cor- 
rectness, but only according to appearances. Hence we 
ought not to be very confident, that when they employ the 
term earth, they meant that spherical, vast globe which as- 
tronomy proves the earth to be, but rather that part of it 
which was inhabited, which was all the idea that entered into 



4 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

the mind of a Jew. God might, indeed, have revealed new 
scientific as well as religious truth. But there is no evidence 
that in this way he has anticipated a single modern discovery. 
This would have been turning aside from the much more 
important object he had in view, viz., to teach the world re- 
ligious truth. Such being the case, the language employed 
to describe natural phenomena must have been adapted to 
the state of knowledge among the people to whom the Scrip- 
tures were addressed. 

Another inference from these premises is, that there may 
be an apparent contradiction between the statements of sci- 
ence and revelation. Revelation may describe phenomena 
according to apparent truth, as when it speaks of the rising 
and setting of the sun, and the immobility of the earth'; but 
science describes the same according to the actual truth, as 
when it gives a real motion to the earth, and only an appar- 
ent motion to the heavens. Had the language of revelation 
been scientifically accurate, it would have defeated the object 
for which the Scriptures were given ; for it must have antici- 
pated scientific discovery, and therefore have been unintelli- 
gible to those ignorant of such discoveries. Or if these had 
been explained by inspiration, the Bible would have become 
a text-book in natural science, rather than a guide to eter- 
nal life. 

The final conclusion from these principles is, that since 
science and revelation treat of the same subjects only inci- 
dentally, we ought only to expect that the facts of science, 
rightly understood, should not contradict the statements of 
revelation, correctly interpreted. Apparent discrepancies 
there may be ; and it would not be strange, if for a time 
they should seem to be real ; either because science has not 
fully and accurately disclosed the facts, or. the Bible is not 



HOW TO INTERPRET THE BIBLE. 5 

correctly interpreted ; but if both records are from God, there 
can be no real contradiction between them. But, on the other 
hand, we have no reason to expect any remarkable coinci- 
dences, because the general subject and object of the two 
records are so unlike. Should such coincidences occur, how- 
ever, they will render it less probable that any apparent dis- 
agreement is real. 

If the positions taken in these preliminary remarks be cor- 
rect, it will follow, that in judging of the agreement or dis- 
agreement between revelation and science, it is important, in 
the first place, that we rightly understand the Bible ; and, in 
the second place, that we carefully ascertain what are the 
settled and demonstrated principles of science. An exami- 
nation of these points will constitute the remainder of this 
lecture. 

The meaning of the Scriptures is to be determined in the 
same way as the meaning of any other book written in similar 
circumstances. Its inspiration puts no bar in the way of the 
most rigid application of the rules of criticism, nor renders 
it unnecessary to seek for light in whatever quarter it can be 
obtained. The rules of grammatical and rhetorical construc- 
tion, the study of contemporary writers, a knowledge of the 
history, customs, opinions, and prejudices of the times, and 
other circumstances that need not be mentioned, become im- 
portant means of attaining the true usus loquendi, or princi- 
ple of interpretation. But I pass by all these on the present 
occasion, because no one doubts their importance in rightly 
understanding the Bible. I maintain that scientific discov- 
eries furnish us with another means of its correct interpreta- 
tion, where it describes natural phenomena. And in this 
position we shall not probably find an entire unanimity of opin- 
ion. Let us, therefore, proceed to examine its truth. 
1* 



6 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

It will not be denied that modern science has corrected the 
opinions of men in regard to very many natural phenomena. 
The same term that conveyed one idea to an ancient reader, 
or hearer, of the Bible, often conveys an opposite meaning to 
a modern ear. And yet that term may be very proper to 
use in modern times, if understood to express only apparent, 
and not real truth. The Jew understood it to mean the latter ; 
and it would seem as if we might employ modern scientific 
discovery to enable us to decide in which sense the Bible did 
use the term. For if we admit the Jew to have been correct 
in his interpretation, then we bring revelation into direct col- 
lision with the demonstrations of physics. 

But facts are vastly more satisfactory in deciding this ques- 
tion than reasoning, and 1 shall now proceed to adduce some 
examples in which modern scientific discovery has thrown 
light upon the meaning of the Bible. 

For one or two examples I appeal to chemistry. In the 
book of Proverbs, (chap. 25, v. 20,) we find it said, that as 
vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy 
heart. We should expect from this statement that when we 
put vinegar upon what we call nitre, it would produce some 
commotion analogous to the excitement of song-singing. But 
we should try the experiment in vain ; for no effect whatever 
would be produced. Again, it is said by the prophet Jeremiah, 
(chap. 2, v. 22,) Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take 
thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith 
the Lord. Here, too, we should expect that the use of the 
nitre would increase the purifying power of the soap ; but 
the experiment would prove rather the reverse. The chemist, 
however, informs us that there is a substance, viz., the carlo- 
nate of soda, which, if substituted for the nitre, would effer- 
vesce with vinegar, and aid the purifying power of soap, 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE EARTH. 7 

and thus strikingly illustrate the thought both of Solomon and 
Jeremiah. And on recurring to the original, we find that 
m (nether, nitrum, natrum) does not necessarily mean 
the salt which we call nitre, but rather a fossil alkali, the 
natron of the ancients, and the carbonate of soda of the 
moderns. 

It is probably the prevailing opinion among intelligent Chris- 
tians at this time, and has been the opinion of many commen- 
tators, that when Peter describes the future destruction of the 
world, he means that its solid substance, and indeed that of 
the whole material universe, will be utterly consumed or an- 
nihilated by fire. This opinion rests upon the common belief 
that such is the effect of combustion. But chemistry informs 
us, that no case of combustion, how fiercely soever the fire 
may rage, annihilates the least particle of matter ; and that 
fire only changes the form of substances. Nay, there is no 
reason whatever to suppose that one particle of matter has 
been annihilated since the world began. The chemist more- 
over asserts that all the solid parts of the globe have already 
undergone combustion, and that although heat may melt them, 
it cannot burn them. Nor is there any thing upon or within 
the earth capable of combustion, but vegetables, and animals, 
and a few gases. Has Peter, then, made a mistake because 
he did not understand modern chemistry ? We have only to 
examine his language carefully, as' it seems to me, in order 
to be satisfied that he means only, that whatsoever upon, or 
within, the earth, is combustible, will be burned up at the 
final conflagration ; and that the whole globe, the elements, 
will melt with fervent heat. He nowhere asserts, or implies, 
that one particle of matter will be annihilated by that catas- 
trophe. Thus science, instead of proving his statements to be 
erroneous, only enables us more correctly to understand them. 



8 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

Scarcely any truth seems more clearly taught in the Bible 
than the future resurrection of the body. Yet this doctrine 
has always been met by a most formidable objection. It is 
said that the body laid in the grave is ere long decomposed 
into its elements, which are scattered over the face of the 
earth, and enter into new combinations, even forming a part 
of other human bodies, Hence not even Omnipotence can 
raise from the grave the identical body laid there, because 
the particles may enter successively into a multitude of other 
human bodies. I am not aware that any successful reply has 
ever been given to this objection, until chemistry and natural 
history taught us the true nature of bodily identity ; and until 
recently the objector has felt sure that he had triumphed. But 
these sciences teach us that the identity of the body consists, 
not in a sameness of particles, but in the same kinds of ele- 
mentary matter, combined in the same proportion, and having 
the same form and structure. Hence it is not necessary that 
the resurrection body should contain a single particle of the 
matter laid in the grave, in order to be the same body ; which 
it will be if it consist of the same kinds of matter combined 
in the same proportions, and has the same form and struc- 
ture. For the particles of our bodies are often totally changed 
during our lives ; yet no one imagines that the old man has 
not the same body as in infancy.* What but the principles 

* I am not aware that this reply to the objection was ever ad- 
vanced, till the publication, by myself, last year, of a sermon on the 
Resurrections of Spring, in a small volume of sermons, entitled Re- 
ligious Lectures on some peculiar Phenomena in the Four Seasons. 
I may be mistaken ; but I cannot see why this reply does not com- 
pletely meet the difficulty, and free an important doctrine from an 
incubus under which it has long lain half smothered. 



IDENTITY OF THE SPIRITUAL BODY. 9 

of science could have thus vindicated a precious doctrine of 
revelation ? 

In the description which Paul gives of the spiritual body. 
a naturalist, — and I fancy no one but a naturalist, — will 
discover its specific identity. By this I mean that it will pos- 
sess peculiarities that distinguish it from every thing else, 
but which are so closely related to the characteristics of the 
natural body in this world, from which it was derived, that 
one acquainted with the latter would recognize the former. 
Hence the Christian's friends in another world may be recog- 
nized by him from their external characters, just as we iden- 
tify the plants and animals of spring with those that seemed 
to perish in the preceding autumn. There is neither time 
nor room for the proof of this exegesis, which is founded 
chiefly upon the principles of natural history; but for their 
elucidation, I must refer to another place.* 

I take my next example from meteorology. It was the 
opinion of the ancients that the earth, at a certain height, was 
surrounded by a transparent hollow sphere of solid matter, 
which they called the firmament. When rain descended, they 
supposed it was through windows, or holes, made in this crys- 
talline curtain suspended in mid heaven. To these notions 
the language of the Bible is frequently conformed. In the 
account of the creation, in Genesis, we have a description of 
the formation of this firmament, and how it divided the waters 
below it, viz., the ocean, lakes, and rivers, from the waters 
above it, viz., the clouds. Again, in the account of the 
deluge, the windows of heaven are said to have been opened. 

* I hope it is not vanity to say that this subject, also, was first 
suggested in the sermon referred to in the preceding note. If correct, 
it opens an animating prospect to the afflicted Christian. 



10 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

But it is hardly necessary to say, that meteorology has shown 
that no such solid firmament exists over our heads ; that, in fact, 
nothing but one homogeneous, transparent atmosphere encloses 
the earth, in which the clouds float at different altitudes at differ- 
ent times. Are we, then, to suppose that the sacred writers 
meant to teach as certain truth, the fiction of a solid firmament ; 
or that on this subject they conformed their language to the pre- 
vailing belief, because it was not their object to teach philosophy, 
meaning neither to assert nor to deny the existence of a solid 
firmament, but using language that was optically, although 
not physically, correct, and which, therefore, conformed to 
the general belief? It is doubtful whether any thing but sci- 
entific discovery could enable us to decide this question. But 
since it is certain that the solid firmament does not exist, we 
must admit that the Bible did not intend to teach its exist- 
ence, or allow it to teach a falsehood ; and since we know 
that it does often speak, in natural things, according to appar- 
ent^ and not real truth, it is most reasonable to give such a 
construction to its language in the present instance. 

But the most decisive example I have to give on this sub- 
ject is derived from astronomy. Until the time of Copernicus, 
no opinion respecting natural phenomena was thought more 
firmly established, than that the earth is fixed immovably 
in the centre of the universe, and that the heavenly bodies 
move diumally around it. To sustain this view, the most 
decided language of Scripture could be quoted. God is there 
said to have established the foundations of the earth, so that 
they could not be removed forever ; and the sacred writers 
expressly declare that the sun and other heavenly bodies arise 
and se£,and nowhere allude to any proper motion in the earth. 
And those statements corresponded exactly to the testimony 
of the senses. Men felt the earth to be immovably firm under 



THE ASTRONOMICAL HERESY. 11 

their feet, and when they looked up, they saw the heavenly 
bodies in motion. What bold impiety, therefore, did it seem, 
even to men of liberal and enlightened minds, for any one to 
rise up and assert that all this testimony of the Bible and of 
the senses was to be set aside ! It is easy to conceive with 
what strong jealousy the friends of the Bible would look upon 
the new science which was thus arraying itself in bold defi- 
ance of inspiration, and how its votaries would be branded as 
infidels in disguise. We need not resort to Catholic intoler- 
ance to explain how it was, that the new doctrine of the earth's 
motion should be denounced as the most fatal heresy, as alike 
contrary to Scripture and sound philosophy, and that even the 
venerable Galileo should be forced to recant it upon his knees. 
What though the astronomer stood ready with his diagrams 
and formulas to demonstrate the motion of the earth ; who 
would calmly and impartially examine the daims of a sci- 
entific discovery, which, by its very announcement, threw 
discredit upon the Bible and the senses, and contradicted the 
unanimous opinion of the wise and good, — of all mankind, 
indeed, — through all past centuries ? Rather would the dis- 
tinguished theologians of the day set their ingenuity at work 
to frame an argument in opposition to the dangerous neology, 
that should fall upon it like an avalanche, and grind it to pow- 
der. And to show you how firm and irresistible such an ar- 
gument would seem, we need no longer tax the imagination ; 
for Francis Turretin, a distinguished Protestant professor of 
theology, whose writings have even to the present day sus- 
tained no mean reputation, has left us an argument on the 
subject, compacted and arranged according to the nicest rules 
of logic, and which he supposed would stand unrefuted as 
long as the authority of the Bible should be regarded among 
men, He propounds the inquiry* " Do the gun and moon 



12 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

move in the heavens and revolve around the earth, while the 
earth remains at rest ? " This he affirms, " in opposition to 
certain philosophers," and sustains his position by the follow- 
ing arguments: "First. The sun is said [in Scripture] to 
move in the heavens, and to rise and set. (Ps. 19, v. 5.) 
The sun is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and 
rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. (Ps. 104, v. 19.) 
The sun knoweth his going down. (Eccles. 1, v. 5.) The 
sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down. Secondly. The 
sun, by a miracle, stood still in the time of Joshua. (Joshua, 
ch. 10, v. 12, 13, 14,) and by a miracle it went back in the 
time of Hezekiah. (Isa. ch. 38, v. 8.) Thirdly. The earth is 
said to he fixed immovably. (Ps. 93, v. 1.) The world also is 
established, that it cannot be moved. (Ps. 104, v. 5.) Whc 
laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed 
forever. (Ps. 119, v. 90, 91.) Thou hast established tM 
earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according io 
thine ordinances. Fourthly. Neither could birds, which often 
fly off through an hour's circuit, be able to return to their 
nests ; for in the mean time the earth would move four hun- 
dred and fifty of our miles. Fifthly. Whatever flies or is 
suspended in the air ought [by this theory] to move from west 
to east ; but this is proved not to be true from birds, arrows 
shot forth, atoms made manifest in the sun, and down floating 
in the atmosphere." 

If it be replied to this reasoning that the Scripture, in nat- 
ural things, speaks according to the common opinion, Turretin 
answers, " First, that the spirit of God best understands nat 
ural things ; secondly, that, in giving instruction in religion, he 
meant these things should be used, not abused ; thirdly, that 
he is not the author of any error ; fourthly, neither is he to 
be corrected on this pretence by our blind reason." 



ASTRONOMY RECONCILED TO THE BIBLE. 13 

If it be replied that birds, the air, and all things are moved 
with the earth, he answers, " First, that this is a mere fiction, 
since air is a fluid body ; and secondly, if so, by what force 
would birds be able to go from east to west." — Compendium 
Theologiccc Didactico-Elencticce, (Amsterdam, 1695.) 

In the present state of knowledge we may smile at some 
of these arguments ; but to men who had been taught to be- 
lieve, as in a self-evident principle, that the earth was immo- 
vable and the heavenly bodies in motion, the most of them 
must have been entirely satisfactory ; and especially must the 
Scriptures have seemed in point blank opposition to the astro- 
nomical heresy. What, then, has so completely annihilated 
this argument, that now the merest schoolboy would be 
ashamed to advocate it ? The clear demonstrations of sci- 
ence have done it. Not only has the motion of the earth 
been established, but it has been made equally obvious that 
this truth is in entire harmony with the language of Scripture ; 
so that neither the infidel nor the Christian ever suspect, on 
this ground, any collision between the two records. So soon 
as the philologist perceived that there was no escape from the 
astronomical demonstration, he was led to reexamine his in- 
terpretation of Scripture, and found that the whole difficulty 
lay in his assuming that the sacred writers intended to teach 
scientific instead of popular truth. Only admitting that they 
spoke of astronomical phenomena, according to appearances 
and in conformity to common opinion, and their language be- 
came perfectly proper. It conveyed no error, and is in fact 
as well adapted now as ever to the common intercourse of 
life. Yet, in consequence of the scientific discovery, that 
language conveys quite a different meaning to our minds from 
what it did to those who supposed it to teach a scientific truth. 
2 



14 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

Hence it strikingly illustrates the value of scientific discovery 
in enabling us rightly to understand the Bible. 

Is it necessary to quote any more examples to establish the 
principle that scientific discovery is one of the means which the 
philologist should employ in the interpretation of Scripture ? 
And if the principle has been found of service in chemistry, 
meteorology, and astronomy, why should it be neglected in the 
case of geology ? Why should not this science also, which 
has probably more important religious bearings than any other, 
be appealed to in illustration of the meaning of Scripture, 
when phenomena are described of which geology takes cog- 
nizance ? I know that some will reply, that the principles of 
geology are yet too unsettled to be allowed to modify the in- 
terpretation of the Bible. This brings me to the second part 
of my subject, in which I am to inquire whether the prin- 
ciples of physical science^ and of geology in particular, are 
so far settled that we can feel ourselves upon firm ground as 
we compare them with the principles of revelation. 

Before proceeding to this part of the subject, however, I 
must pause a moment, in order to point out another mode, in 
which science may contribute to elucidate Scripture. In the 
way just described, it may enable the interpreter more cor- 
rectly to understand the language, but it may also give a fuller 
illustration to the sentiments of the Bible. Revelation, for 
instance, represents God as benevolent. Now, if we can de- 
rive from the records of geology striking and hitherto un- 
thought-of manifestations of this attribute, we shall make the 
doctrine of Scripture more impressive ; or, if we appeal to 
the numerous changes which the earth has undergone, and 
the vast periods which they have occupied, we find that the 
unsearchableness of divine wisdom, and the vastness of the 
divine plans, are brought more vividly before the mind, and 



THE SETTLED PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE. 15 

task its power of comprehension more than illustrations from 
any other quarter. In short, the principles of religion that 
derive important elucidation from science, and especially from 
geology, are very numerous, as I hope to show in subsequent 
lectures. But I now return to the inquiry, whether the prin- 
ciples of science, and especially of geology, are so well set- 
tled that we can employ them in this manner. 

As to the more mathematical sciences, there will be no one 
to doubt but some of their principles must be admitted as 
infallible truth ; for our minds are so constituted that they are 
incapable of resisting a fair presentation of mathematical 
demonstration. Now, there is scarcely any physical science 
that is not based more or less upon mathematical truth ; and 
as to the facts in those sciences, some of them are so multi- 
plied, and speak so uniformly the same language, that we 
doubt them no more than we do a mathematical demonstra- 
tion. Other classes of facts are less decided ; and in some 
cases they are so insulated as to be regarded as anomalies, to 
be set aside until better understood. The same grades of 
certainty exist in respect to inferences from the facts of sci- 
ence. Some theories are scarcely less doubtful than mathe- 
matics ; others are as strong as probable reasoning can make 
them ; and others are merely plausible. Hypotheses are still 
less to be trusted, though sometimes extremely probable. 

Now, most of the physical sciences 1 embrace facts, theories, 
and hypotheses, that range widely along the scale of proba- 
bility, from decided demonstration to ingenious conjecture. It 
is easy, however, in general, to distinguish the demonstrated 
and the permanent from the conjectural and the fanciful ; and 
when we bring the principles of any science into comparison 
with religion, it is chiefly the former that should be consid- 
ered, although scientific hypothesis may sometimes be made 



16 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

to illustrate religious hypothesis. But, passing by all other 
sciences, it is my desire to present before you, on this occasion, 
the claims of geology, as having fundamental principles so 
well settled that they claim attention from the interpreter of 
the Bible. I ought, however, to remark, that there exists a 
strange jealousy of this science even among intelligent men ; 
a suspicion that its votaries have jumped at strange and dan- 
gerous conclusions through the influence of hypothesis, and 
that in fact the whole science is little else but hypothesis, and 
that there is almost no agreement even among its ablest cul- 
tivators. It is indeed a comparatively recent science, and its 
remarkable developments have succeeded one another so rap- 
idly, as to leave men in doubt whether it would not prove a 
dazzling meteor, instead of a steady and permanent luminary. 
When the men who are now in the full maturity of judgment 
and reason, (and whose favorable opinion I am, therefore, 
anxious above that of all others to secure,) when these were 
young, geology did not constitute a branch of finished educa- 
tion ; and amid the pressure of the cares and duties of middle 
life, how few find the leisure, to say nothing of the disposi- 
tion, carefully to investigate a new and extensive science ! 
Even though younger men should be found standing forth as 
the advocates of geology, yet how natural for those more ad- 
vanced to impute this to the ardor and love of novelty, char- 
acteristic of youth ! 

There is another difficulty, in relation to this subject, that 
embarrasses me. It is not even yet generally understood that 
geology is a branch of knowledge which requires long and 
careful study fully to understand ; that a previous knowledge 
of many other sciences is indispensable in order to compre 
hend its reasonings ; that its reasonings are in fact, for the 
most part, to be mastered only by long and patient considera- 



ATTACKS UPON GEOLOGY. 17 

tion ; and finally, and more especially, that they will appear 
inconclusive and feeble, unless a man has become somewhat 
familiar with specimens of rocks and fossils, and has exam- 
ined strata as they lie in the earth. How very imperfect must 
be the most intelligent man's knowledge of botany, who had 
never examined any plants ; or of chemistry, who had not 
seen any of the simple substances, nor experiments upon them 
in the laboratory ; or of crystallography, whose eyes had per- 
haps never rested upon a crystal. No less important is it 
that he, who would reason correctly about rocks and their 
organic contents, should have studied rocks. But upon such an 
amount of knowledge it is no disparagement to say we have 
no right to presume in all, even of publicly educated men. 
Before such a state of preparation can exist, it is necessary 
that practical geology, at least, should be introduced into our 
schools of every grade, as it might be with great success. 

It ought to be mentioned, in this connection, that, within a 
few years past, geology has experienced several severe attacks 
of a peculiar character. Men of respectable ability, and de- 
cided friends of revelation, having got fully impressed with 
the belief that the views of geologists are hostile to the Bible, 
have set themselves to an examination of their writings, not 
so much with a view of understanding the subject, as of find- 
ing contradictions and untenable positions. The next step 
has been to write a book against geology, abounding, as we 
might expect from men of warm temperament, of such preju- 
dices, and without a practical knowledge of geology, with 
striking misapprehensions of facts and opinions, with positive 
and dogmatic assertions, with severe personal insinuations, 
great ignorance of correct reasoning in geology, and the sub- 
stitution of wild and extravagant hypotheses for geological 
theories. 

2* 



18 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

Hence English literature has been prolific of such works as 
" A Comparative Estimate of the Mineral and Mosaic Geolo- 
gies," by Granville Penn ; the " Geology of Scripture," by 
Fairholme ; " Scriptural Geology," by Dr. Young ; " Popular 
Geology subversive of Divine Revelation," by Rev. Henry 
Cole ; " Strictures on Geology and Astronomy," by Rev. R. 
Wilson ; " Scripture Evidences of Creation, and Geology, and 
Scripture Cosmogony," by anonymous authors ; and many 
other similar productions that might be named. The warm 
zeal displayed, and doubtless felt, by these writers for the 
Bible ; their familiar reference to eminent geological authors, 
as if they understood them; the skill in philology, which they 
frequently exhibit ; and the want of a wide-spread and accu- 
rate knowledge of geology in the community, — have given to 
these works a far more extensive circulation than those works 
have had, which view geology as illustrating and not opposing 
revelation. Foremost among these is the lectures of the ven- 
erable and learned Dr. John Pye Smith, late principal of the 
Homerton Divinity College, London, " On the Relations be- 
tween the Holy Scriptures and some Parts of Geological 
Science." * This work, the result of long and patient re- 
search, and emanating from a man of eminent piety as well 
as learning, affords a full refutation of all the works that have 
been named, and in the kindness and candor of its spirit ex- 
hibits a fine contrast to their intolerance and dogmatism. In 
the profound works of Dr. Harris, entitled " The Pre-Adamite 
Earth," and " Man Primeval," the connections of geology 
and revelation are briefly but ably treated, and also its con- 
nection with natural religion. Quite recently, a small and 

* The first edition of this . work was republished in this country. 
In England it has reached the fifth edition, much enlarged. 



GEOLOGY DEFENDED. 19 

more popular work on this subject has been published by- 
Rev. David King, LL. D., of Glasgow, well worthy of atten- 
tion. " The Course of Creation," by Rev. John Anderson, D. D. 
of recent publication, displays much learning and candor. 
But the causes that have been mentioned have secured a much 
wider circulation for the class of works first named, than for 
the latter, among the religious community generally. The 
consequence is, that the public mind is possessed of many 
prejudices unfavorable to the religious bearings of geology, 
and unfavorable to an impartial examination of its claims. 

Under these circumstances, all that I can do is to state defi- 
nitely what I apprehend to be the established principles of 
the science that have a bearing upon religious truth, and refer 
my hearers to standard works on the subject for the proof 
that they are true. If any will not take the trouble to exam- 
ine the proofs, I trust they will have candor and impartiality 
enough not to deny my positions. 

The first important conclusion, to which every careful ob- 
server will come, is, that the rocks of all sorts, which compose 
the present crust of the globe, so far as it has been explored, 
at least to the depth of several miles, appear to have been 
the result of second causes ; that is, they are now in a differ- 
ent state from that in which they were originally created. 

It is indeed a favorite idea with some, that all the rocks and 
their contents were created just as we now meet them, in a 
moment of time ; that the supposed remains of animals and 
plants, which many of them contain, and which occur in all 
states, from an animal or plant little changed, to a complete 
conversion into stone, were never real animals and plants, but 
only resemblances ; and that the marks of fusion and of the 
wearing of water, exhibited by the rocks, are not to be taken 
as evidences that they have undergone such processes, but 



20 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

only that it has pleased God to give them that appearance 
and that in fact it was as easy for God to create them just as 
they now are as in any other form. 

It is a presumption against such a supposition, that no men, 
who have carefully examined rocks and organic remains, are 
its advocates. Not that they doubt the power of God to pro- 
duce such effects, but they deny the probability that He has 
exerted it in this manner ; for throughout nature, wherever 
they have an opportunity to witness her operations, they find 
that when substances appear to have undergone changes, by 
means of secondaiy agencies, they have in fact undergone 
them ; and, therefore, the whole analogy of nature goes to 
prove that the rocks have experienced great changes since 
their deposition. If rocks are an exception to the rest of 
nature, — that is, if they are the effect of miraculous agency, 
— there is no proof of it ; and to admit it without proof is to 
destroy all grounds of analogical reasoning in natural opera- 
tions ; in other words, it is to remove the entire oasis of rea- 
soning in physical science. Every reasonable man, therefore, 
who has examined rocks, will admit that they have undergone 
important changes since their original formation. 

In the second place, the same general laws appear to have 
always prevailed on the globe, and to have controlled the 
changes which have taken place upon and within it. We 
come to no spot, in the history of the rocks, in which a system 
different from that which now prevails appears to have ex- 
isted. Great peculiarities in the structure of animals and 
plants do indeed occur, as well as changes on a scale of 
magnitude unknown at present ; but this was only a wise 
adaptation to peculiar circumstances, and not an infringement 
of the general laws. 

In the third place, the geological changes which the earth 



SETTLED PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY. 21 

has undergone, and is now undergoing, appear to have been 
the result of the same agencies, viz., heat and water. 

Fourthly. It is demonstrated that the present continents of 
the globe, with perhaps the exception of some of their highest 
mountains, have for a long period constituted the bottom of 
the ocean, and have been subsequently either elevated into 
their present position, or the waters have been drained off 
from their surface. This is probably the most important prin- 
ciple in geology ; and though regarded with much scepticism 
by many, it is as satisfactorily proved as any principle of 
physical science not resting on mathematical demonstration. 

Fifthly. The internal parts of the earth are found to pos- 
sess a very high temperature ; nor can it be doubted that at 
least oceans of melted matter exist beneath the crust, and 
perhaps even all the deep-seated interior is in a state of fus ; - .. 

Sixthly. The fossiliferous rocks, or such as contain ani- 
mals and plants, are not less than six or seven miles in per- 
pendicular thickness, and are composed of hundreds of alter- 
nating layers of different kinds, all of which appear to have 
been deposited, just as rocks are now forming, at the bottom 
of lakes and seas ; and hence their deposition must have occu- 
pied an immense period of time. Even if we admit that this 
deposition went on in particular places much faster than at 
present, a variety of facts forbids the supposition that this was 
the general mode of their formation. , 

Seventhly. The remains of animals and plants found in 
the earth are not mingled confusedly together, but are found 
arranged, for the most part, in as much order as the drawers 
of a well-regulated cabinet. In general, they appear to have 
lived and died on or near the spots where they are now found ; 
and as countless millions of these remains are often found 
piled together, so as to form almost entire mountains, the 



22 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

periods requisite for their formation must have been immensely 
long, as was taught in the preceding proposition. 

Eighthly. Still further confirmation of the same important 
principle is found in the well-established fact, that there 
have been upon the globe, previous to the existing races, 
not less than five distinct periods of organized existence ; 
that is, five great groups of animals and plants, so com- 
pletely independent that no species whatever is found in more 
than one of them, have lived and successively passed away 
before the creation of the races that now occupy the surface. 
Other standard writers make the number of these periods of 
existence as many as twelve. Comparative anatomy testifies 
that so unlike in structure were these different groups, that 
they could not have coexisted in the same climate and other 
external circumstances. 

Ninthly. In the earliest times in which animals and plants 
lived, the climate over the whole globe appears to have been 
as warm as, or even warmer than, it is now between the 
tropics. And the slow change from warmer to colder appears 
to have been the chief cause of the successive destruction of 
the different races ; and new ones were created, better adapted 
to the altered condition of the globe ; and yet each group seems 
to have occupied the globe through a period of great length, 
so that we have here another evidence of the vast cycles of 
duration that must have rolled away even since the earth be- 
came a habitable globe. 

Tenthly. There is no small reason to suppose that the globe 
underwent numerous changes previous to the time when ani- 
mals were placed upon it ; that, in fact, the time was when the 
whole matter of the earth was in a melted state, and not im- 
probably also even in a gaseous state. These points, indeed, 
are not as well established as the others that have been 



SETTLED PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY. 23 

mentioned ; but, if admitted, they give to the globe an incal- 
culable antiquity. 

Eleventhly. It appears that the present condition of the 
earth's crust and surface was of comparatively recent com- 
mencement ; otherwise the steep flanks of mountains would 
have ceased to crumble down, and wide oceans would have 
been filled with alluvial deposits. 

Twelfthly. Among the thirty thousand species of animals 
and plants found in the rocks,* very few living species have 
been detected ; and even these few occur in the most re- 
cent rocks, while in the secondary group, not less than six 
miles thick, not a single species now on the globe has 
been discovered. Hence the present races did not exist till 
after those in the secondary rocks had died. No human 
remains have been found below those alluvial deposits which 
are now forming by rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Hence 
geology infers that man was one of the latest animals that 
was placed on the globe. . 

Thirteenthly. The surface of the earth has undergone an 
enormous amount of erosion by the action of the ocean, the 
rivers, and the atmosphere. The ocean has worn away the 
solid rock, in some parts of the world, not less than ten thou- 
sand feet in depth, and rivers have cut channels through the 
hardest strata, hundreds of feet deep and several miles long ; 
both of which effects demand periods inconceivably long. 

Fourteenthly. At a comparatively recent date, northern 
and southern regions have been swept over and worn down 
by the joint action of ice and water, the force in general 

* Two or three years since Professor Bronn described twenty-six 
thousand six hundred and seventy- eight species ; and, upon an aver- 
age, one thousand species are discovered every year. M. Alcide 
D'Orbigny, in 1850, stated the number of mollusks and radiated ani- 
mals alone at seventeen thousand nine hundred and forty-seven species. 



24 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

having been directed towards the equator. This is called the 
drift period. 

Fifteenthly. Since the drift period, the ocean has stood 
some thousands of feet above its present level in many 
countries. 

Sixteenthly. There is evidence, in regard to some parts of 
the world, that the continents are now experiencing slow ver- 
tical movements — some places sinking, and others rising. 
And hence a presumption is derived that, in early times, such 
changes may have been often repeated, and on a great scale. 

Seventeenthly. Every successive change of importance on 
the earth's surface appears to have been an improvement of 
its condition, adapting it to beings of a higher organization, 
and to man at last, the most perfect of all. 

Finally. The present races of animals and plants on the 
globe are for the most part disposed in groups, occupying par- 
ticular districts, beyond whose limits the species peculiar to 
those provinces usually droop and die. The same is true, to 
some extent, as to the animals and plants found in the rocks ; 
though the much greater uniformity of climate, that prevailed 
in early times, permitted organized beings to take a much 
wider range than at present ; so that the zoological and bo- 
tanical districts were then probably much wider. But the 
general conclusion, in respect to living and extinct animals, is, 
that there must have been several centres of creation, from 
which they emigrated as far as their natures would allow them 
to range. 

It would be easy to state more principles of geology of con- 
siderable importance ; but I have now named the principal 
ones that bear upon the subject of religion. A brief state- 
ment of the leading truths of theology, whether natural or 
revealed, which these principles affect, and on which they 



RELIGIOUS RELATIONS OF GEOLOGY. 25 

cast light, will give an idea of the subjects which I propose to 
discuss in these lectures. 

The first point relates to the age of the world. For while 
it has been the usual interpretation of the Mosaic account, that 
the world was brought into existence nearly at the same time 
with man and the other existing animals, geology throws back 
its creation to a period indefinitely but immeasurably remote. 
The question is not whether man has existed on the globe 
longer than the common interpretation of Genesis requires, — 
for here geology and the Bible speak the same language, — 
but whether the globe itself did not exist long before his cre- 
ation ; that is, long before the six days' work, so definitely 
described in the Mosaic account ? In other words, is not this 
a case in which the discoveries of science enable us more 
accurately to understand the Scriptures ? 

The introduction of death into the world, and the specific 
character of that death described in Scripture as the conse- 
quence of sin, are the next points where geology touches the 
subject of religion. Here, too, the general interpretation of 
Scripture is at variance with the facts of geology, which dis- 
tinctly testify to the occurrence of death among animals long 
before the existence of man. Shall geology here, also, be 
permitted to modify our exposition of the Bible ? 

The subject of deluges, and especially that of Noah, will 
next claim our attention. For though it is now generally 
agreed that geology cannot detect traces of such a deluge as 
the Scriptures describe, yet upon some other bearings of that 
subject it does cast light ; and so remarkable is the history of 
opinions concerning the Noachian deluge, that it could not 
on that account alone be properly passed in silence. 

It is well known that the philosophy of antiquity, almost 
without exception, regarded matter as eternal ; and in modern 
3 



26 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

times, metaphysical theology has done its utmost to refute the 
supposed dangerous dogma. Geology affords us some new 
views of the subject ; and although it does not directly refute 
the doctrine, it brings before us facts of such a nature as to 
show, that, so far as religion is concerned, such a refutation is 
of little importance. This will furnish another theme of 
discussion. 

It may be thought extravagant, but I hazard the assertion, 
that no science is so prolific of direct testimony to the benev- 
olence of the Deity as geology ; and some of its facts bear 
strongly upon the objections to this doctrine. So important a 
subject will, therefore, occupy at least one or two lectures. 

In all ages, philosophers have, in one form or another, en- 
deavored to explain the origin and the phenomena of creation 
by a power inherent in nature, independent of a personal 
Deity, usually denominated natural law. And in modern 
times this hypothesis has assumed a popular form and a plau- 
sible dress. Not less than one lecture is demanded for its 
examination, especially as its advocates appeal with special 
confidence to geology for its support. 

In existing nature, no one fact stands out more prominently 
than unity of des'^n ; and it is an interesting inquiry, whether 
the same general system prevailed through the vast periods 
of geological history as that which now adorns our globe. 
This question I shall endeavor to answer in the affirmative, 
by appealing to a multitude of facts. 

Another question of deep interest in theology is, whether 
the Deity exercises over the world any special providence ; 
whether he ever interferes with the usual order of things by 
introducing change ; or whether he has committed nature to 
the control of unalterable laws, without any direct efficiency. 
Light is thrown on these points by the researches of geology, 



RELIGIOUS RELATIONS OF GEOLOGY. 27 

if I mistake not ; and I shall not fail to attempt its devel- 
opment. 

This science also discloses to us many new views of the 
vast plans of the Deity, and thus enlarges our conceptions of 
his wisdom and knowledge. In this field we must allow our- 
selves to wander in search of the golden fruit. 

In the course of the discussion, we shall direct our attention 
to the new heavens and the new earth described in the Bible, 
and inquire whether geology does not cast a glimpse of light 
upon that difficult subject. 

In approaching the close of our subject, we shall introduce 
a few lectures having a wider range, and deriving less eluci- 
dation from geology than from other sciences. One is a con- 
sideration of the physical effects of human actions upon the 
universe. And in conclusion of the whole subject, we shall 
endeavor to show that the bearings of all science, when 
rightly understood, are eminently favorable to religion, both 
in this world and the next. 

With a few miscellaneous inferences from the principles 
advanced, I shall close this lecture. 

In the first place, we see that the points of connection be- 
tween geology and religion are numerous and important. A 
few years since, geology, instead of being appealed to for the 
illustration of religious truth, was regarded with great jeal- 
ousy, as a repository of views favorable to infidelity, and even 
to atheism. But if the summary which I have exhibited of its 
religious relations be correct, from what other science can we 
obtain so many illustrations of natural and revealed religion ? 
Distinguished Christian writers are beginning to gather fruit 
in this new field, and the clusters already presented us by 
such men as Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Pye Smith, Dr. Buckland, 
Dr. Harris, and Dr. King, are an earnest of an abundant 



28 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

harvest. I hazard the prediction that the time is not far dis- 
tant when it will be said of this, as of another noble science, 
" The undevout geologist is mad." 

Secondly. 1 would bespeak the candid attention of those 
sceptical minds, that are ever ready to imagine discrepancies 
between science and religion, to the views which I am about 
to present. The number of such is indeed comparatively 
small ; yet there are still some prepared to seize upon every new 
scientific fact, before it is fully developed, that can be made to 
assume the appearance of opposition to religion. It is strange 
that they should not ere this time despair of making any serious 
impression upon the citadel of Christianity. For of all the 
numerous assaults of this kind that have been made, not one 
has destroyed even an outpost of religion. Just so soon as 
the subject was fully understood, every one of them has been 
abandoned ; and even the most violent unbeliever never thinks, 
at the present day, of arraying them against the Bible. One 
needs no prophetic inspiration to be confident that every ge- 
ological objection to Christianity, which perhaps now and then 
an unbeliever of limited knowledge still employs, will pass 
into the same limbo of forgetful ness. 

Finally. I would throw out a caution to those friends of 
religion who are very fearful that the discoveries of science 
will prove injurious to Christianity. Why should the enlight- 
ened Christian, who has a correct idea of the firm foundation 
on which the Bible rests, fear that any disclosures of the 
arcana of nature should shake its authority or weaken its 
influence ? Is not the God of revelation the God of nature 
also ? and must not his varied works tend to sustain and elu- 
cidate, instead of weakening and darkening, one another ? 
Has Christianity suffered because the Copernican system of 
astronomy has proved true, or because chemistry has demon- 



IDLE FEARS FOR THE BIBLE. 29 

strated that the earth is already for the most part oxidized, and 
therefore cannot literally be burned hereafter ? Just as much 
as gold suffers by passing through the furnace. Yet how many 
fears agitated the hearts of pious men when these scientific 
truths were first announced ! The very men who felt so 
strong a conviction of the truth of the Bible, that they were 
ready to go to the stake in its defence, have trembled and 
uttered loud notes of warning when the votaries of science 
have brought out some new fact, that seemed perhaps at first, 
or when partially understood, to contravene some statement 
of revelation. The effect has been to make sceptical minds 
look with suspicion, and sometimes with contempt, upon Chris- 
tianity itself. It has built up a wall of separation between 
science and religion, which is yet hardly broken down. For 
notwithstanding the instructive history of the past on this sub- 
ject, although every supposed discrepancy between philosophy 
and religion has vanished as soon as both were thoroughly 
understood, yet so soon as geology began to develop her mar- 
vellous truths, the cry of danger to religion became again 
the watchword, and the precursor of a more extended and 
severe attack upon that science than any other has ever expe- 
rienced, and the prelude, I am sorry to say, of severe personal 
charges of infidelity against many an honest friend of religion. 

In contrast to the contracted views and groundless fears 
that have been described, it is refreshing to meet with such 
sentiments as the following, from men eminent for learning, 
and some of them veterans in theological science. With 
these I close this lecture. 

" Those rocks which stand forth in the order of their forma- 
tion," says Dr. Chalmers, " and are each imprinted with their 
own peculiar fossil remains, have been termed the archives of 
nature, where she hath recorded the changes that have taken 
3* 



30 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

place in the history of the globe. They are made to serve the 
purpose of scrolls or inscriptions, on which we might read of 
those great steps and successions by which the earth has been 
brought into its present state ; and should these archives of na- 
ture be but truly deciphered, we are not afraid of their being 
openly confronted with the archives of revelation. It is un- 
manly to blink the approach of light, from whatever quarter 
of observation it may fall upon us ; and those are not the best 
friends of Christianity, who feel either dislike or alarm when 
the torch of science, or the torch of history, is held up to the 
Bible. For ourselves, we are not afraid when the eye of an 
intrepid, if it be only a sound philosophy, scrutinizes, however 
jealously, all its pages. We have no dread of any appre- 
hended conflict between the doctrines of Scripture and the 
discoveries of science, persuaded, as we are, that whatever 
story the geologists of our day shall find engraven on the 
volume of nature, it will only accredit that story which is 
graven on the volume of revelation." — Chalmers's Works, 
vol. ii. p. 227. 

u For our own part," says Rev. Henry Melville, " we have 
no fears that any discoveries of science will really militate 
against the disclosures of Scripture. We remember how, in 
darker days, ecclesiastics set themselves against philosophers 
who were investigating the motions of the heavenl}' bodies, 
apprehensive that the new theories were at variance with the 
Bible, and therefore resolved to denounce them as heresies, 
and stop their spread by persecution. But truth triumphed ; 
bigotry and ignorance could not long prevail to the hiding 
from the world the harmonious walkings of stars and planets ; 
and ever since, the philosophy which laid open the wonders 
of the universe hath proved herself the handmaid of revela- 
tion, which divulged secrets far beyond her gaze. And thus, 



THE BIBLE ENCOURAGES RESEARCH. 31 

we are persuaded, shall it always be ; science may scale new 
heights and explore new depths, but she shall bring back 
nothing from her daring and successful excursions which will 
not, when rightly understood, yield a fresh tribute of testimony 
to the Bible. Infidelity may watch her progress with eager- 
ness, exulting in the thought that she is furnishing facts with 
which the Christian system may be strongly assailed ; but the 
champions of revelation may confidently attend her in eveiy 
march, assured that she will find nothing which contradicts, 
if it do not actually confirm, the word which they know to be 
divine." — Sermons, 2d Am. edit. vol. ii. p. 298. 

" Shall it then any longer be said," says Dr. Buckland, 
" that a science, which unfolds such abundant evidence of the 
being and attributes of God, can reasonably be viewed in any 
other light than as the efficient auxiliary and handmaid of 
religion ? Some few there still may be, whom timidity, or 
prejudice, or want of opportunity, allow not to examine its 
evidence ; who are alarmed by the novelty, or surprised by 
the extent and magnitude, of the views which geology forces 
on their attention, and who would rather have kept closed the 
volume of witness, which has been sealed up for ages, beneath 
the surface of the earth, than impose upon the student in nat- 
ural theology the duty of studying its contents ; — a duty in 
which, for lack of experience, they may anticipate a hazardous 
or a laborious task, but which, by those engaged in it, is found 
to afford a rational, and righteous, and delightful exercise of 
their highest faculties, in multiplying the evidences of the 
existence, and attributes, and providence of God." 

" It follows then," says Dr. J. Pye Smith, " as a universal 
truth, that the Bible, faithfully interpreted, erects no bar 
against the most free and extensive investigation, the most 
comprehensive and searching induction. Let but the investi- 



32 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 

gation be sufficient, and the induction honest ; let observation 
take its farthest flight ; let experiment penetrate into all the 
recesses of nature ; let the veil of ages be lifted up from all that 
has been hitherto unknown, — if such a course were possible, 
religion need not fear ; Christianity is secure, and true science 
will always pay homage to the divine Creator and Sovereign, 
of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things ; 
and unto whom be glory forever." — Lectures on Scripture 
and Geology, 4.th London edit. p. 223. 



(33) 



LECTURE II. 
THE EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION TJNREVEALED. 

The Mosaic account of the creation of the universe has 
always been celebrated for its sublime simplicity. Though 
the subject be one of unparalleled grandeur, the writer makes 
not the slightest effort at rhetorical embellishment, but em- 
ploys language which a mere child cannot misapprehend. 
How different, in this respect, is this inspired record from all 
uninspired efforts that have been made to describe the origin 
of the world ! 

But notwithstanding the great simplicity and clearness of 
this description, its precise meaning has occasioned as much 
discussion as almost any passage of Scripture. This results 
chiefly from its great brevity. Men with different views of 
inspiration, cosmogony, and philosophy, engage in its exami- 
nation, not so much to ascertain its meaning, as to find out 
whether it teaches their favorite speculative views ; and be- 
cause it says nothing about them, they attempt to fasten those 
views upon it, and thus make it teach a great deal more than 
the mind of the Spirit. My simple object, at this time, is to 
ascertain whether the Bible fixes the time when the universe 
was created out of nothing. 

The prevalent opinion, until recently, has been, that we are 
there taught that the world began to exist on the first of the 
six days of creation, or about six thousand years ago. Geol- 
ogists, however, with one voice, declare that their science 



34 EPOCH OF THE EARTHS CREATION UNREVEALED. 

indicates the earth to have been of far higher antiquity. The 
question becomes, therefore, of deep interest, whether the 
common interpretation of the Mosaic record is correct. 

Let us, in the first place, examine carefully the terms of 
that record, without reference to any of the conclusions of 
science. 

A preliminary inquiry, however, will here demand atten- 
tion, to which I have already given some thoughts in the first 
lecture. The inquiry relates to the mode in which the sacred 
writers describe natural phenomena. 

Do they adapt their descriptions to the views and feelings 
of philosophers, or even the common people, in the nineteenth 
century, or to the state of knowledge and the prevalent opin- 
ions of a people but slightly removed from barbarism ? 

Do they write as if they meant to correct the notions of men 
on natural subjects, when they knew them to be wrong ; or 
as if they did not mean to decide whether the popular opinion 
were true or false ? These points have been examined with 
great skill and candor by a venerable clergyman of England, 
whose praise is in all the American churches, and whose skill 
in sacred philology, and profound acquaintance with the Bible, 
none will question, any more than they will his deep-toned 
piety and enlarged and liberal views of men and things. I 
refer to Dr. J. Pye Smith, lately at the head of the Homerton 
Divinity College, near London.* 

* The news has just reached us that this venerable man is no more. 
I was present last summer at Homerton, when he resigned the charge 
of that beloved institution. From his addresses and his prayers, so 
redolent of the spirit of heaven, I might have known that he was 
pluming his wings for his upward flight. I am thankful that I was 
permitted to see the man, whom, of all others in Europe, I most de- 
sired to see. But Dr. Buckland I did not meet ; for he was in an 



BIBLE LANGUAGE, HOW USED. 35 

He first examines the style in which the Old Testament 
describes the character and operations of Jehovah, and shows 
that it is done " in language borrowed from the bodily and 
mental constitution of man, and from those opinions concern- 
ing the works of God in the natural world, which were gen- 
erally received by the people to whom the blessings of revela- 
tion were granted." Constant reference is made to material 
images, and to human feelings and conduct, as if the people 
addressed were almost incapable of spiritual and abstract 
ideas. This, of course, gives a notion of God infinitely be- 
neath the glories of his character ; but to uncultivated minds 
it was the only representation of his character that would give 
them any idea of it. Nay, even in this enlightened age, such 
descriptions are far more impressive than any other upon the 
mass of mankind ; while those, whose minds are more en- 
lightened, find no difficulty in inculcating the pure truth re- 
specting God from these comparatively gross descriptions. 

Now, if, upon a point of such vast importance as the divine 
character, revelation thus condescends to human weakness 
and ignorance, much more might we expect it, in regard to 
the less important subject of natural phenomena. We find, 
accordingly, that they are described as they appear to the 
common eye, and not in their real nature ; or, in the lan- 
guage of Rosenmuller, the Scriptures speak " according to 
optical, and not physical truth." They make no effort to 

insane hospital, with no prospect of recovery. Alas ! how sad to think 
of such Christian philosophers, so soon removed from the world, or 
from all concern in it ! Could I dare to hope that I shall meet them 
and kindred spirits before the throne of our common Redeemer, how 
should I exclaim with Cicero, " O preclarum diem, quum in illud ani- 
morum concilium ccclumque projiciscar, ut quum ex hoc ttirba et collu- 
vione discedam ! 



correct even the grossest errors, on these subjects, that then 
prevailed. 

The earth, as we have seen on a former occasion, is de- 
scribed as immovable, in the centre of the universe, and the 
heavenly bodies as revolving round it diurnally. The firma- 
ment over us is represented as a solid, extended substance, 
sustaining an ocean above it, with openings, or windows, 
through which the waters may descend. In respect to the 
human system, the Scriptures refer intellectual operations to 
the reins, or the region of the kidneys, and pain to the bones. 
In short, the descriptions of natural things are adapted to the 
very erroneous notions which prevailed in the earliest ages 
of society and among the common people. But it is as easy 
to interpret such descriptions in conformity to the present 
state of physical science, as it is to divest the scriptural 
representations of the Deity of their material dress, and make 
them conform to the spiritual views that now prevail. No 
one regards it as any objection to the Old Testament, that 
,it gives a description of the divine character so much less 
spiritual than the views adopted by the theologians of the 
nineteenth century ; why then should they regard it as de- 
rogatory to inspiration to adopt the same method as to natural 
objects ? 

These considerations will afford us some assistance in rightly 
interpreting the description of the creation, in the first chapter 
of Genesis, to which we will now turn our attention. 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 
And the earth was without form and void. And darkness 
was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved 
upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light, 
and there ivas light. And God saw the light that it was good. 
And God divided the light from the darkness, and the light 



NATURE OF THE CREATIVE ACT. 37 

he called day, and the darkness he called night. And the 
evening and the morning were the first day. 

The first question that arises, on reading this passage, is, 
whether the creation here described was a creation out of 
nothing, or out of preexisting materials. The latter opinion 
has been maintained by some able, and generally judicious 
commentators and theologians, such as Doederlin and Dathe 
in Germany, Milton in England, and Bush and Schmucker in 
this country. They do not deny that the Bible, in other 
places, teaches distinctly the creation of the universe out 
of nothing. But they contend that the word translated to 
create, in the first verse of Genesis, teaches only a renova- 
tion, or remodelling, of the universe from matter already in 
existence. 

That there is a degree of ambiguity in all languages, in 
the words that signify to create, to make, to form, and the like, 
cannot be doubted ; that is, these words may be properly used 
to describe the production of a substance out of matter already 
in existence, as well as out of nothing; and, therefore, we 
must resort to the context, or the nature of the subject, to as- 
certain in which of those senses such words are used. The 
same word, for instance, {bawraw,) that is used in the first 
verse of Genesis, to describe the creation of the universe, is 
employed in the 27th verse of the* same chapter, to describe 
the formation of man out of the dust qf the earth. There was, 
however, no peculiar ambiguity in the use of the Hebrew words 
bawraw and awsaw, which correspond to our words create and 
make ; and, therefore, it is not necessary to be an adept in 
Hebrew literature to judge of the question under considera- 
tion. We have only to determine whether the translation of 
the Mosaic account of the creation most reasonably teaches a 
production of the matter of the universe from nothing, or only 
4 



38 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED. 

its renovation, and we have decided what is taught in the 
original. 

Now, there can hardly be a doubt but Moses intended to 
teach, in this passage, that the universe owed its origin to 
Jehovah, and not to the idols of the heathen ; and since all 
acknowledge that other parts of Scripture teach, that, when 
the world was made, it was produced out of nothing, why 
should we not conclude that the same truth is taught in this 
passage ? The language certainly will bear that meaning $ 
indeed, it is almost as strong as language can be to express 
such a meaning ; and does not the passage look like a distinct 
avowal of this great truth, at the very commencement of the 
inspired record, in order to refute the opinion, so prevalent in 
early times, that the world is eternal ? 

The next inquiry concerning the passage relates to the 
phrase the heavens and the earth. Does it comprehend the 
universe ? So it must have been understood by the Jews ; 
for their language could not furnish a more comprehensive 
phrase to designate the universe. True, these words, like those 
already considered, are used sometimes in a limited sense. 
But in this place their broadest signification is in perfect ac- 
cordance with the scope of the passage and with the whole 
tenor of the Scripture. We may, therefore, conclude with 
much certainty, that God intended in this place to declare the 
great truth, that there was a time in past eternity when the 
whole material universe came into existence at his irresistible 
fiat : — a truth eminently proper to stand at the head of a 
divine revelation. 

But when did this stupendous event occur? Does the 
phrase in the beginning show us when ? Surely not ; for no 
language can be more indefinite as to time. Whenever it is 
used in the Bible, it merely designates the commencement of 



GENESIS, HOW TO BE UNDERSTOOD. 39 

the series of events, or the periods of time, that are described. 
In the beginning was the word ; that is, at the commencement 
of things the word was in existence ; consequently was from 
eternity. But in Genesis the act of creation is represented 
by this phrase simply as the commencement of the material 
universe, at a certain point of time in past eternity, which is 
not chronologically fixed. The first verse merely informs us, 
that the first act of the Deity in relation to the universe was 
the creation of the heavens and the earth out of nothing. 

It is contended, however, that the first verse is so connected 
with the six days' work of creation, related in the subsequent 
verse, that we must understand the phrase in the beginning as 
the commencement of the first day. This is the main point 
to be examined in relation to the passage, and therefore de- 
serves a careful consideration. 

If the first verse must be understood as a summary ac- 
count of the six days' work which follows in detail, then the 
beginning was the commencement of the first day, and of 
course only about six thousand years ago. But if it may be 
understood as an announcement of the act of creation at 
some indefinite point in past duration, then a period may have 
intervened between that first creative act and the subsequent 
six days 1 work. I contend that the passage admits of either 
interpretation, without any violence to the language or the 
narration. 

The first of these interpretations is the one usually received, 
and, therefore, it will be hardly necessary to attempt to show 
that it is admissible. The second has had fewer advocates, 
and will, therefore, need to be examined. 

The particle and, which is used in our translation of this 
passage to connect the successive sentences, furnishes an 
argument to the English reader against this second mode of 



40 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNKEVEALED. 

interpretation, which has far less force with one acquainted 
with the original Hebrew. The particle thus translated is 
the general connecting particle of the Hebrew language, and 
" may be copulative, or disjunctive, or adversative ; or it may- 
express a mere annexation to a former topic of discourse, — 
the connection being only that of the subject matter, or the 
continuation of the composition. This continuative use forms 
one of the most marked peculiarities of the Hebrew idiom, 
and it comprehends every variety of mode in which one train 
of sentiment may be appended to another." — J. Pye Smith, 
Scrip, and Geol. p. 195, 4th edit. 

In the English Bible this particle is usually rendered by the 
copulative conjunction and ; in the Septuagint, and in Jose- 
phus, however, it sometimes has the sense of but. And some 
able commentators are of opinion that it admits of a similar 
translation in the passage under consideration. The elder 
Rosenmuller says we might read it thus : "In the beginning 
God created the heavens and the earth. Afterwards the earth 
was desolate" &c. Or the particle afterwards may be placed 
at the beginning of any of the succeeding verses. Thus, In 
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the 
earth was desolate, and darkness was upon the face of the 
waters. Afterwards the Spirit of God moved upon the face 
of the waters. Dr. Dathe* who has been styled, by good au- 
thority, (Dr. Smith,) " a cautious and judicious critic," renders 
the first two verses in this manner : " In the beginning God 
created the heavens and the earth ; but afterwards the earth 
became waste and desolate." If such translations as these be 
admissible, the passage not only allows, but expressly teaches, 
that a period intervened between the first act of creation and 
the six days' work. And if such an interval be allowed, it is 
all that geology requires to reconcile its facts to revelation. 



INTERVENING PERIOD. 41 

For during that time, all the changes of mineral constitution 
and organic life, which that science teaches to have taken 
place on the globe, previous to the existence of man, may 
have occurred. 

It is a presumption in favor of such an interpretation that 
the second verse describes the state of the globe after its cre- 
ation and before the creation of light. For if there were 
no interval between the fiat that called matter into existence, 
and that which said, Let there be light, why should such a 
description of the earth's waste and desolate condition be 
given ? 

But if there had been such an intervening period, it is per- 
fectly natural that such a description should precede the his- 
tory of successive creative acts, by which the world was 
adorned with light and beauty, and filled with inhabitants. 

But, after all, would such an interpretation have ever been 
thought of, had not the discoveries of geology seemed to 
demand it ? 

This can be answered by inquiring whether any of the wri- 
ters on the Bible, who lived before geology existed, or had 
laid claims for a longer period previous to man's creation, 
whether any of these adopted such an interpretation. We 
have abundant evidence that they did. Many of the early 
fathers of the church were very explicit on this subject. 
Augustin, Theodoret, and others, supposed that the first verse 
of Genesis describes the creation of matter distinct from, and 
prior to, the work of six days. Justin Martyr and Gregory 
Nazianzen believed in an indefinite period between the crea» 
tion of matter and the subsequent arrangement of all things. 
Still more explicit are Basil, Csesarius, and Origen. It would 
be easy to quote similar opinions from more modern writers, 
who lived previous to the developments of geology. But I 
4* 



42 EPOCH OF THE EARTHS CREATION UNREPEALED. 

will give a paragraph from Bishop Patrick only, who wrote 
one hundred and fifty years ago. 

" How long," says he, " all things continued in mere con- 
fusion after the chaos was created, before light was extracted 
from it, we are not told. It might have been, for any thing 
that is here revealed, a great while ; and all that time the 
mighty Spirit was making such motions in it, as prepared, dis- 
posed, and ripened every part of it for such productions as 
were to appear successively in such spaces of time as are here 
afterwards mentioned by Moses y who informs us, that after 
things were digested and made ready (by long fermentation 
perhaps) to be wrought into form, God produced every day, for 
six days together, some creature or other, till all was finished, 
of which light was the very first." — Commentary, in loco. 

Such evidence as this is very satisfactory. For at the 
present day one cannot but fear that the discoveries of geology 
may too much influence him insensibly to put a meaning upon 
Scripture which would never have been thought of, if not sug- 
gested by those discoveries, and which the language cannot 
bear. But those fathers of the church cannot be supposed 
under the influence of any such bias ; and, therefore, we may 
suppose the passage in itself to admit of the existence of a 
long period between the beginning and the first demiurgic day. 

Against these views philologists have urged several objec- 
tions not to be despised. One is, that light did not exist till 
the first day, and the sun and other luminaries not till the 
fourth day ; whereas the animals and plants dug from the 
rocks could not have existed without light. They could not, 
therefore, have lived in the supposed long period previous to 
the six days. 

If it be indeed true, that light w T as not called into existence 
till the first day, nor the sun till the fourth, this objection is 



STJN AND MOON, WHEN CHEATED. 43 

probably insuperable. But it would be easy to cite the opinions 
of many distinguished and most judicious expounders of the 
Bible, showing that the words of the Hebrew original do not 
signify a literal creation of the sun, moon, and stars, on the 
fourth day, but only constituting or appointing them, at that 
time, to be luminaries, and to furnish standards for the division 
of time and other purposes. 

The word used is not the same as that employed in the 
first verse to describe the creation of the world ; and the pas- 
sage, rightly understood, implies the previous existence of the 
heavenly bodies. " The words "-irn rhisto are not to be sep- 
arated from the rest," says Rosenmuller, " or to be rendered 
jiant luminaria, let there be light; i. e., let light be made ; 
but rather, let lights be ; that is, serve, in the expanse of heaven, 
for distinguishing between day and night ; and let them be, or 
serve, for signs," &c. "The historian speaks (v. 16, end) 
of the determination of the stars to certain uses, which they 
were to render to the earth, and not of their first formation." 
In like manner we may suppose that the production of light 
was only rendering it visible to the earth, over which darkness 
hitherto brooded ; not because no light was in existence, but 
because it did not shine upon the earth. 

Another objection to this interpretation is, that the fourth 
commandment of the decalogue expressly declares, that in 
six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all 
that in them is, &c, and thus cuts off the idea of a long 
period intervening between the beginning and the six days. 
I acknowledge that this argument carries upon the face of it 
a good deal of strength ; but there are some considerations 
that seem to me to show it to be not entirely demonstrative. 

In the first place, it is a correct principle of interpreting 
language, that when a writer describes an event in more than 



44 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEAL&fc.' 

one place, the briefer statement is to be explained by the more 
extended one. Thus, in the second chapter of Genesis, we 
have this brief account of the creation : These are the genera- 
tions of the heavens and of the earthy when they were created, 
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 

Now, if this were the only description of the work of crea- 
tion on record, the inference would be very fair that it was 
all completed in a single day. 

Yet when we turn to the first chapter, we find the work 
prolonged through six days. The two statements are not con- 
tradictory ; but the briefer one would not be understood with- 
out the more detailed. In like manner, if we should find it 
distinctly stated in the particular account of the creation of 
the universe, in the first chapter of Genesis, that a long period 
actually intervened between the beginning and the six days, 
who would suppose the statement a contradiction to the fourth 
commandment ? It is true, we do not find such a fact distinctly 
announced in the Mosaic account of the creation. But sup- 
pose we first learn that it did exist from geology ; why should 
we not be as ready to admit it as if stated in Genesis, pro- 
vided it does not contradict any thing therein recorded ? For 
illustration : let us refer to the account given in Exodus of 
the parents of Moses and their family. And there went a 
man of the name of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 
And the woman conceived and hare a son, (that is, Moses,) 
and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him 
three months. (Ex. ii. 12.) Suppose, now, that no other ac- 
count existed in the Bible of the family of this Levite ; we 
could not surely have suspected that Moses had an elder 
brother and sister. But imagine the Bible silent on the sub- 
ject, and that the fact was first brought to light in deciphering 
Egyptian hieroglyphics in the nineteenth century ; who could 



PERIOD BEFORE THE SIX DAYS. 45 

hesitate to admit its truth because omitted in the Pentateuch ? 
or who would regard it in opposition to the sacred record ? 
With equal propriety may we admit, on proper geological 
evidence, the intercalation of a long period between the be- 
ginning and the six days, if satisfied that it does not contradict 
the Mosaic account. Hence all that is necessary, in this con- 
nection, for me to show, is, that such contradictions would not 
be made out by such a discovery. 

Once more : if this long period had existed, we should hardly 
have expected an allusion to it in the fourth commandment, 
if the views we have taken are correct as to the manner in 
which the Old Testament treats of natural events. It is lit- 
erally true, that all which the Jews understood by the heavens 
and the earth, was made, (aivsaw,) that is, renovated, arranged, 
and constituted, — for so the word often means, — in six lit- 
eral days. Had the sacred writer alluded to the earth while 
without form and void, or to the heavenly bodies as any thing 
more than shining points in the firmament, placed there on the 
fourth day, he could not have been understood by the Hebrews, 
without going into a detailed description, and thus violating 
what seems to have been settled principles in writing the 
Bible, viz., not to treat of natural phenomena with scientific 
accuracy, nor to anticipate any scientific discovery. 

I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I am endeavoring 
to show, only, that the language of Scripture will admit of an 
indefinite interval between the first creation of matter and the 
six demiurgic days. I am willing to admit, at least for the 
sake of argument, that the common interpretation, which 
makes matter only six thousand years old, is the most natural. 
But I contend that no violence is done to the language by 
admitting the other interpretation. And in further proof of 
this position, I appeal to the testimony of distinguished modern 



46 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED. 

theologians and philologists, as I have to several of the an- 
cients. This point cannot, indeed, be settled by the authority 
of names. But I cannot believe that any will suppose such 
men as I shall mention were led to adopt this view simply 
because geologists asked for it, while their judgments told 
them that the language of the Bible would not bear such a 
meaning. When such men, therefore, avow their acquies- 
cence in such an interpretation, it cannot but strengthen our 
confidence in its correctness. 

" The interval," says Bishop Horsley, " between the pro- 
duction of the matter of the chaos and the formation of light, 
is undescribed and unknown." 

" Were we to concede to naturalists," says Baumgarten 
Crusius, " all the reasonings which they advance in favor of 
the earth's early existence, the conclusion would only be, that 
the earth itself has existed much more than six thousand years, 
and that it had then already suffered many great and important 
revolutions. But if this were so, would the relation of Moses 
thereby become false and untenable ? I cannot think so." 

" By the phrase in the beginning" says Doederlin, " the 
time is declared when something began to be. But when 
God produced this remarkable work, Moses does not precisely 
define." 

" We do not know," says Sharon Turner, " and we have 
no means of knowing, at what point of the ever-flowing eter- 
nity of that which is alone eternal, — the divine subsistence, 
— the creation of our earth, or any part of the universe, be- 
gan." " All that we can learn explicitly from revelation is, 
that nearly six thousand years have passed since our first 
parents began to be." 

" The words in the text," says Dr. Wiseman, " do not 
merely express a momentary pause between the first fiat of 



OPINIONS OF SCHOLARS. 47 

creation and the production of light ; for the participial form 
of the verb, whereby the Spirit of God, the creative energy, 
is represented as brooding over the abyss, and communicating 
to it the productive virtue, naturally expresses a continuous, 
and not a passing action. 1 ' 

" I am strongly inclined to believe," says Bishop Gleig, 
u that the matter of the corporeal universe was all created at 
once ; though different portions of it may have been reduced 
to form at very different periods. When the universe was cre- 
ated, or how long the solar system remained in a chaotic state, 
are vain inquiries, to which no answer can be given." 

" The detailed history of creation in the first chapter of 
Genesis," says Dr. Chalmers, " begins at the middle of the 
second verse ; and what precedes might be understood as an 
introductory sentence, by which we are most appositely told, 
both that God created all things at the first, and that after- 
wards — by what interval of time it is not specified — the earth 
'apsed into a chaos, from the darkness and disorder of which 
the present system or economy of things was made to arise. 
Between the initial act and the details of Genesis, the world, 
for aught we know, might have been the theatre of many 
revolutions, the traces of which geology may still inves- 
tigate," &c. 

" A philological survey of the initial sections of the Bible, 
(Gen. i. 1 to ii. 3,)" says Dr. Pye Smith, "brings out the 
result ; " 

1. " That the first sentence is a simple, independent, all- 
comprehending axiom, to this effect, — that matter, elementary 
or combined, aggregated only or organized, and dependent, 
sentient, and intellectual beings have not existed from eternity, 
either in self-continuity or succession, but had a beginning ; 
that their beginning took place by the all-powerful will of one 



48 EPOCH OF THE EAETH's CEEATION UNREVEALED. 

Being, the self-existent, independent and infinite in all perfec- 
tion ; and that the date of that beginning is not made known." 

2. " That at a recent epoch, our planet was brought into 
a state of disorganization, detritus, or ruin, (perhaps we have 
no perfectly appropriate term,) from a former condition. 

3. " That it pleased the Almighty, wise and benevolent 
Supreme, out of that state of ruin to adjust the surface of the 
earth to its now existing condition, — the whole extending 
through the period of six natural days." 

" I am forming," continues Dr. Smith, " no hypotheses in 
geology ; I only plead that the ground is clear, and that the 
dictates of the Scripture interpose no oar to observation and 
reasoning upon the mineralogical constitution of the earth, 
and the remains of organized creatures which its strata dis- 
close. If those investigations should lead us to attribute to 
the earth and to the other planets and astral spheres an an- 
tiquity which millions or ten thousand millions of years 
might fail to represent, the divine records forbid not their 
deduction." — Script, and Geol. p. 502. 

Says Dr. Bedford, " We ought to understand Moses as say- 
ing, indefinitely far back, and concealed from us in the mys- 
*ery of eternal ages, prior to the first moment of mundane 
time, God created the heavens and the earth." — Smith, 
Script, and Geol. 4th edit. 

" My firm persuasion is," says Dr. Harris, " that the first 
verse of Genesis was designed, by the divine Spirit, to an- 
nounce the absolute origination of the material universe by 
the Almighty Creator ; and that it is so understood in the 
other parts of holy writ ; that, passing by an indefinite inter- 
val, the second verse describes the state of our planet imme- 
diately prior to the Adamic creation, and that the third verse 
begins the account of the six days' work." 



TESTIMONY OF THEOLOGIANS. 49 

" If I am reminded, in a tone of animadversion, that I am 
making science, in this instance, the interpreter of Scripture, 
my reply is, that I am simply making the works of God illus- 
trate his word in a department in which they speak with a 
distinct and authoritative voice ; that '* it is all the same 
whether our geological or theological investigations have been 
prior, if we have not forced the one into accordance with 
the other." — (Davidson, Sacred Hermeneutics.) " And that it 
might be deserving consideration, whether or not the conduct 
of those is not open to just animadversion, who first under- 
take to pronounce on the meaning of a passage of Scripture, 
irrespective of all the appropriate evidence, and who then, 
when that evidence is explored and produced, insist on their 
a priori interpretation as the only true one." — Pre- Adamite 
Earth, p. 280. 

" Our best expositors of Scripture," says Dr. Daniel King, 
of Glasgow, " seem to be now pretty generally agreed, that 
the opening verse in Genesis has no necessary connection 
with the verses which follow. They think it may be under- 
stood as making a separate and independent statement regard- 
ing the creation proper, and that the phrase c in the begin- 
ning ' may be expressive of an indefinitely remote antiquity. 
On this principle the Bible recognizes, in the first instance, 
the great age of the earth, and then tells us of the changes it 
underwent at a period long subsequent, in order to render it 
a fit abode for the family of man. The work of the six days 
was not, according to this view, a creation in the strict sense 
of the term, but a renovation, a remodelling of preexisting 
materials." — Principles of Geology explained, &c. p. 40, 
1st edit. 

" Whether the Mosaic creation," says Dr. Schmucker, of 
the Lutheran church in this country, " refers to the present 
5 



50 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED. 

organization of matter, or to the formation of its primary ele- 
ments, it is not easy to decide. The question is certainly not 
determined by the usage of the original words, iCO, rraplj, 
which are frequently employed to designate mediate forma- 
tion. Should the future investigations of physical science 
bring to light any facts, indisputably proving the anterior 
existence of the matter of this earth, such facts would not 
militate against the Christian Scriptures." 

" That a very long period," says Dr. Pond, — " how long no 
being but God can tell, — ■ intervened between the creation of 
the world and the commencement of the six days' work re- 
corded in the following verses of the first chapter of Genesis, 
there can, I think, be no reasonable doubt." 

But I need not adduce any more advocates of the interpre- 
tation of Genesis, for which I contend. Men more respected 
and confided in by the Christian world I could not quote, though 
I might enlarge the number ; but I trust it is unnecessary. 
I trust that all who hear me are satisfied that the Mosaic his- 
tory of the creation of the world does fairly admit of an inter- 
pretation which leaves an undefined interval between the 
creation of matter and the six days' work. Let it be recol- 
lected that I do not maintain that this is the most natural 
interpretation, but only that the passage will fairly admit it 
by the strict rules of exegesis. The question still remains to 
be considered, whether there is sufficient reason to adopt it as 
the true interpretation. To show that there is, I now make 
my appeal to geology. This is a case, it seems to me, in 
which we may call in the aid of science to ascertain the true 
meaning of Scripture. The question is, Does geology teach, 
distinctly and uncontrovertibly, that the world must have 
existed during a long period prior to the existence of the races 
of organized beings that now occupy its surface ? 



PROOFS' OF THE EARTH'S GREAT AGE. 51 

To give a popular view of the evidence sustaining the affir- 
mative of this question is no easy task. It needs a full and 
accurate acquaintance with the multiplied facts of geology, 
and, what is still more rare, a familiarity with geological rea- 
soning, in order to feel the full force of the arguments that 
prove the high antiquity of the globe. Yet I know that I have 
a right to presume upon a high degree of scientific knowledge, 
and an accurate acquaintance with geology, among those 
whom I address. 

In the first place, I must recur to a principle already briefly 
stated in a former lecture, viz., that a careful examination of 
the rocks presents irresistible evidence, that, in their present 
condition, they are all the result of second causes ; in other 
words, they are not now in the condition in which they were 
originally created. Some of them have been melted and re- 
consolidated, and crowded in between others, or spread over 
them. Others have been worn down into mud, sand, and 
gravel, by water and other agents, and again cemented to- 
gether, after having enveloped multitudes of animals and 
plants, which are now imbedded as organic remains. In short, 
all known rocks appear to have been brought into their present 
state by chemical or mechanical agencies. It is indeed easy 
to say that these appearances are deceptive, and that these 
rocks may, with perfect ease, have been created just as we 
now find them. But it is not easy to retain this opinion, after 
having carefully examined them. For the evidence that they 
are of secondary origin is nearly as strong, and of the same 
kind too, as it is that the remains of edifices lately discovered 
in Central America are the work of man, and were not cre- 
ated in their present condition. 

In the second place, processes are going on by which rocks 
are formed on a small scale, of the same character as those 



52 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED. 

which constitute the great mass of the earth. Hence it is fail 
to infer, that all the rocks were formed in a similar manner. 
Beds of gravel, for instance, are sometimes cemented together 
by heat, or iron, or lime, so as to resemble exactly the con- 
glomerates found in mountain masses among the ancient 
rocks. Clay is sometimes converted into slate by heat, as is 
soft marl into limestone, by the same cause. In fact, we find 
causes now in operation that produce all the varieties of known 
rocks, except some of the oldest, which seem to need only a 
greater intensity in some of the causes now at work to pro- 
duce them. By ascertaining the rate at which rocks are now 
forming, therefore, we can form some opinion as to the time 
requisite to produce those constituting the crust of the globe. 
If, for instance, we can determine how fast ponds, lakes, and 
oceans are filling up with mud, sand, and gravel, conveyed to 
their bottoms, we can judge of the period necessary to pro- 
duce those rocks which appear to have been formed in a sim- 
ilar manner ; and if there is any evidence that the process 
was more rapid in early times, we can make due allowance. 

In the third place, all the stratified rocks appear to have 
been formed out of the fragments of other rocks, worn down 
by the action of water and atmospheric agencies. This is 
particularly true »of that large proportion of these rocks which 
contain the remains of animals and plants. The mud, sand, 
and gravel of which these are mostly composed, must have 
been worn from rocks previously existing, and have been 
transported into lakes, and the ocean, as the same process is 
now going on. There the animals and plants, which died in 
the waters, and were transported thither by rivers, must have 
been buried ; next, the rocks must have been hardened into 
stone, by admixture with lime, or iron, or by internal heat ; and, 
finally, have been raised above the waters, so as to become 



DEPOSIT IN LAKE LEHMAN. 53 

dry land. Beds oflimestone are interstratified with those of 
shale, sandstone, and conglomerate ; but these form only a 
small proportion of the whole, and, besides, were mostly formed 
in an analogous manner, though by agencies more decidedly 
chemical. 

Now, for the most part, this process of forming rocks by 
the accumulation of mud, sand, and gravel is very slow. In 
general, such accumulations, at the bottom of lakes and the 
ocean, do not increase more than a few inches in a century. 
During violent floods, indeed, and in a few limited spots, the 
accumulation is much more rapid ; as in the Lake of Geneva, 
through which the Rhone, loaded with detritus from the Alps, 
passes, where a delta has been formed two miles long and 
nine hundred feet thick, within eight hundred years.* And 
occasionally such rapid depositions probably took place while 
the older rocks were in the course of formation. But in gen- 
eral, the work seems to have gone on as slowly as it usually 
does at present. 

Yet, in the fourth place, there must have been time enough 

* This had always seemed to me a very strong case, as I had seen 
it described. But a recent visit to the spot (September, 1850) did not 
make so strong an impression upon me as I expected. In the first 
place, I found the head of Lake Lehman, where the Rhone enters, to 
be so narrow, that the detritus brought down by the river cannGt 
spread itself out very far laterally. Secondly, I found, on ascending 
the Rhone, that it is every where a very rapid stream ; and, on ac- 
count of the origination of its branches from glaciers, it is always 
loaded with mud. So that the process of deposition must be going 
on continually. This cannot be the case in one in ten of other rivers, 
whose waters, for most of the year, are clear. This case, then, is 
only a quite unusual exception, and cannot be regarded as a stan- 
dard by which to judge of the rate of deposition at present, or in past 
times. 

5* 



54 epoch or the earth's creation unrevealed. 

since the creation to deposit at least ten miles of rocks in 
perpendicular thickness, in the manner that has been de- 
scribed. For the stratified rocks are at least of that thickness 
in Europe, and in this country much thicker ; or, if we regard 
only the fossiliferous strata as thus deposited, (since some 
geologists might hesitate to admit that the non-fossiliferous 
rocks were thus produced,) these are six and a half miles 
thick in Europe, and still thicker in this country. How im- 
mense a period was requisite for such a work ! Some do, 
indeed, contend that the work, in all cases, as we have al- 
lowed it in a few, may have been vastly more rapid than at 
the present day. But the manner in which the materials are 
arranged, and especially the preservation of the most delicate 
parts of the organic remains, often in the very position in 
which the animals died, show the quiet and slow manner in 
which the process went on. 

In the fifth place, it is certain that, since man existed on the 
globe, materials for the production of rocks have not accu- 
mulated to the average thickness of more than one hundred 
or two hundred feet ; although in particular places, as already 
mentioned, the accumulations are thicker. The evidence of 
this position is, that neither the works nor the remains of man 
have been found any deeper in the earth than in the upper 
part of that superficial deposit called alluvium. But had man 
existed while the other deposits were going on, no possible 
reason can be given why his bones and the fruits of his labors 
should not be found mixed with those of other animals, so 
abundant in the rocks, to the depth of six or seven miles. In 
the last six thousand years, then, only one five hundredth part 
of the stratified rocks has been accumulated. I mention this 
fact, not as by any means an exact, but only an approximate, 
measure of the time in which the older rocks were deposited ; 



VARIETY IN THE DEPOSITS. 55 

for the precise age of the world is probably a problem which 
science never can solve. All the means of comparison within 
our reach enable us to say, only, that its duration must have 
been immense. 

In the sixth place, during the deposition of the stratified 
rocks, a great number of changes must have occurred in the 
matter of which they are composed. Hundreds of such 
changes can be easily counted, and they often imply great 
changes in the waters holding the materials in solution or sus- 
pension ; such changes, indeed, as must have required differ- 
ent oceans over the same spot. Such events could not have 
taken place without extensive elevations and subsidences of 
the earth's crust ; nor could such vertical movements have hap- 
pened without much intervening time, as many facts, too 
technical to be here detailed, show. Here, then, we have 
another evidence of vast periods of time occupied in the sec- 
ondary production and arrangements of the earth's crust. 

In the seventh place, numerous races of animals and plants 
must have occupied the globe previous to those which now 
inhabit it, and have successively passed away, as catastrophes 
occurred, or the climate became unfit for their residence. 
Not less than thirty thousand species have already been dug 
out of the rocks; and excepting a few hundred species, mostly 
of sea shells, occurring in the uppermost rocks, none of them 
correspond to those now living on the globe. In Europe, they 
are found to the depth of about six and a half miles ; and in 
this country, deeper ; and no living species is found more than 
one twelfth of this depth. All the rest are specifically and 
often generically unlike living species ; and the conclusion 
seems irresistible, that they must have lived and died before 
the creation of the present species. Indeed, so different was 
the climate in those early times, — it having been much 



56 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED. 

warmer than at present in most parts of the world, — that but 
few of the present races could have lived then. Still further : 
it appears that, during the whole period since organized beings 
first appeared on the globe, not less than four, or five, and 
probably more — some think as many as ten or twelve — entire 
races have passed away, and been succeeded by recent ones ; 
so that the globe has actually changed all its inhabitants 
half a dozen times. Yet each of the successive groups occu- 
pied it long enough to leave immense quantities of their 
remains, which sometimes constitute almost entire mountains. 
And in general, these groups became extinct in consequence 
of a change of climate ; which, if imputed to any known 
cause, must have been an extremely slow process. 

Now, these results are no longer to be regarded as the 
dreams of fancy, but the legitimate deductions from long and 
careful observation of facts. And can any reasonable man 
conceive how such changes can have taken place since the 
six days of creation, or within the last six thousand years ? 
In order to reconcile them with such a supposition, we must 
admit of hypotheses and absurdities more wild and extravagant 
than have ever been charged upon geology. But admit of a 
long period between the first creative act and the six days, and 
all difficulties vanish. 

In the eighth place, the denudations and erosions that have 
taken place on the earth's surface indicate a far higher an- 
tiquity to the globe, even since it assumed essentially its pres- 
ent condition, than the common interpretation of Genesis 
admits. The geologist can prove that in many cases the rocks 
have been worn away, by the slow action of the ocean, more 
than two miles in depth in some regions, and those very wide ; 
as in South Wales, in England. As the continents rose from 
the ocean, the slow drainage by the rivers has excavated 



GORGES WORN BY RIVERS. 57 

numerous long and deep gorges, requiring periods incalculably 
extended. 

I do not wonder that, when the sceptic stands upon the 
banks of Niagara River, and sees how obviously the splendid 
cataract has worn out the deep gorge extending to Lake On- 
tario, he should feel that there is a standing proof that the 
common opinion, as to the age of the world, cannot be true ; 
and hence be led to discard the Bible, if he supposes that to 
be a true interpretation. 

But the Niagara gorge is only one among a multitude of 
examples of erosion that might be quoted ; and some of them 
far more striking to a geologist. On Oak Orchard Creek, and 
the Genesee River, between Rochester and Lake Ontario, are 
similar erosions, seven miles long. On the latter river, south 
of Rochester, we find a cut from Mount Morris to Portage, 
sometimes four hundred feet deep. On many of our south- 
western rivers we have what are called canons, or gorges, often 
two hundred and fifty feet deep, and several miles long. Near 
the source of Missouri River are what are called the Gates of 
the Rocky Mountains, where there is a gorge six miles long 
and twelve hundred feet deep. Similar cuts occur on the 
Columbia River, hundreds of feet deep, through the hard trap 
rock, for hundreds of miles, between the American Falls and 
the Dalles. At St. Anthony's Falls, on the Mississippi, that 
river has worn a passage in limestone seven miles long, which 
distance the cataract has receded. On the Potomac, ten miles 
west of Washington, the Great Falls have worn back a pas- 
sage sixty to sixty-five feet deep, four miles, continuously — 
a greater work, considering the nature of the rock, than has 
been done by the Niagara. The passage for the Hudson, 
through the highlands, is probably an example of river ero- 
sion ; as is also that of the Connecticut at Brattleboro' and 



5S EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED. 

Bellows Falls. In these places, it can be proved that the river 
was once at least seven hundred feet above its present bed. 
On the Deerfield River, a tributary of the Connecticut, we 
have a gulf called the Ghor, eight miles long and several hun- 
dred feet deep, cut crosswise through the mica slate and gneiss 
by the stream. 

On the eastern continent I might quote a multitude of anal- 
ogous cases. There is, for instance, the Wady el Jeib, in soft 
limestone, within the Wady Arabah, south of the Dead Sea. 
The defile is one hundred and fifty feet deep, half a mile wide, 
and forty miles long. In Mount Lebanon, several remarkable 
chasms in limestone have been described by American mis- 
sionaries, as that on Dog River, (Lycus of the ancients,) six 
miles long, seventy or eighty feet deep, and from one hun- 
dred and twenty to one hundred and sixty feet wide ; also, 
Wady Barida, whose walls are six hundred to eight hundred 
feet high. On the River Ravendoor, in Kurdistan, is a gorge, 
described in a letter from Dr. Perkins, one thousand feet deep. 
Another on the Euphrates, near Diadeen, is seventy feet deep, 
and is spanned by a natural bridge one hundred feet long. 
On the River Terek, in the Dariel Caucasus, is a pass one 
hundred and twenty miles long, whose walls rise from one 
thousand to three thousand feet high. In Africa, the River 
Zaire has cut a passage, forty miles long, through mica slate, 
quartz, and syenite ; and in New South Wales, Cox River 
passes through a gorge twenty-two hundred yards wide and 
eight hundred feet high. 

Ninthly. Since the geological period now passing com- 
menced, called the alluvial, or pleistocene period, certain 
changes have been going on, which indicate a very great 
antiquity to the drift period, which was the commencement 
of the alluvial period, and has been considered among the 



ANCIENT TERRACES AND SEA BEACHES. 59 

most recent of geological events. I refer to the formation 
of deltas and of terraces. 

Of the deltas I will mention but a single example, to which, 
however, many others correspond. The Mississippi carries 
down to its mouth 28,188,803,892 cubic feet of sediment 
yearly, which it deposits ; or one cubic mile in five years and 
eighty-one days. Now, as the whole delta contains twenty- 
seven hundred and twenty cubic miles, it must have required 
fourteen thousand two hundred and four years to form it in 
this manner. 

Terraces occur along some of the rivers of our country from 
four hundred to five hundred feet above their present beds, 
and around our lakes to the height of nearly one thousand feet. 
They are composed of gravel, sand, clay, and loam, that have 
been comminuted, and sorted, and deposited, by water chiefly. 
At a height two or three times greater, on the same rivers 
and lakes, we find what seem to be ancient sea beaches, of 
the same materials, deposited earlier, and less comminuted. 
The same facts also occur in Europe, and probably in Asia. 

Now, it seems quite certain, that these beaches and terraces 
were formed as the continents were being drained of the waters 
of the ocean, and the rivers were cutting down their beds ; 
which last process has been going on in many places to the 
present day. Yet scarcely nowhere, since the memory of 
man, have even the lowest of these terraces and beaches been 
formed, save on a very limited scale, and of a few feet in 
height. The lowest of them have been the sites of towns and 
cities, ever since the settlement of our country, and on the 
eastern continent much longer. Yet we see the processes by 
which they have been formed now in operation ; but they 
have scarcely made any progress during the period of human 
history. How vast the period, then, since the work was first 



60 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED. 

commenced ! Yet even its commencement seems to have been 
no farther back than the drift epoch, since that deposit lies 
beneath the -terraces. But the drift period was comparatively 
a very recent one on the geological scale. How do such facts 
impress us with the vast duration of the globe since the first 
series of changes commenced ! 

Finally. There is no little reason to believe that, previous to 
the formation of the stratified rocks, the earth passed through 
changes that required vast periods of time, by which it was 
gradually brought into a habitable state. It is even believed 
that one of its earliest conditions was that of vapor ; that, grad- 
ually condensing, it became a melted globe of fire, and then, 
as it gradually cooled, a crust formed over its surface ; and 
so at last it became habitable. All this is indeed hypothesis ; 
and, therefore, I do not place it in the same rank as the other 
proofs of the earth's antiquity, already adduced. Still this 
hypothesis has so much evidence in its favor, that not a few 
of the ablest and most cautious philosophers of the present 
day have adopted it. And if it be indeed true, it throws back 
the creation of the universe to a period remote beyond calcu- 
lation or conception. 

Now, let this imperfect summary of evidence in favor of the 
earth's high antiquity be candidly weighed, and can any one 
think it strange that every man, who has carefully and exten- 
sively examined the rocks in their native beds, is entirely con- 
vinced of its validity ? Men of all professions, and of diverse 
opinions concerning the Bible, have been geologists ; but on 
this point they are unanimous, however they may differ as 
to other points in the science. Must we not, then, regard this 
fact as one of the settled principles of science ? If so, who 
will hesitate 4o say that it ought to settle the interpretation of 
the first verse of Genesis, in favor of that meaning which 



THIS INTERPRETATION MEETS THE CASE. 61 

allows an intervening period between the creation of matter 
and the creation of light ? This is the grand point which I 
have aimed to establish ; and, in conclusion, I beg leave to 
make a few remarks by way of inference. 

First. This interpretation of Genesis is entirely sufficient 
to remove all apparent collision between geology and revela- 
tion. It gives the geologist full scope -for his largest specula- 
tions concerning the age of the world. It permits him to 
maintain that its first condition was as unlike to the present 
as possible, and allows him time enough for all the changes 
of mineral constitution and organic life which its strata re- 
veal. It supposes that all these are passed over in silence by 
the sacred writers, because irrelevant to the object of revela- 
tion, but full of interest and instruction to the men of science, 
who should afterwards take pleasure in exploring the works 
of God. 

It supposes the six days 1 work of creation to have been 
confined entirely to the fitting up the world in its present con- 
dition, and furnishing it with its present inhabitants. Thus, 
while it gives the widest scope to the geologist, it does not 
encroach upon the literalities of the Bible ; and hence it is 
not strange that it should be almost universally adopted by 
geologists as well as by many eminent divines. 

I would not forget to notice in this connection, however, a 
recent proposed extension of this interpretation by Dr. John 
Pye Smith, founded on the principle already illustrated, that 
the sacred writers adapted their language to the state of 
knowledge among the Jews. By the term earth, in Genesis, 
he supposes, was designed not the whole terraqueous globe, 
but " the part of our world which God was adapting for the 
dwelling-place of man and animals connected with him." 
And the narrative of the six days' work is a description 
6 



62 EPOCH OF THE EARTHS CREATION UNREVEALED. 

adapted to the ideas and capacities of mankind in the earliest 
ages, of a series of operations, by which the Being of omnipo- 
tent wisdom and goodness adjusted and furnished, not the earth 
generally, but, as the particular subject under consideration 
here, a portion of its surface for most glorious purposes. 
This portion of the earth he conceives to have been a large 
part of Asia, lying between the Caucasian ridge, the Cas- 
pian Sea and Tartary on the north, the Persian and Indian 
Seas on the south, and the high mountain ridges which run 
at considerable distance on their eastern and western flanks. 
This region was first, by atmospheric and geological causes 
of previous operation, under the will of the Almighty, brought 
into a condition of superficial ruin, or some kind of general 
disorder, probably by volcanic agency ; it was submerged, 
covered with fogs and clouds, and subsequently elevated, and 
the atmosphere, by the fourth day, rendered pellucid. — 
Script, and Geol. p. 275, 2d edit. 

Without professing to adopt fully this view of my learned 
and venerable friend, I cannot but remark, that it explains one 
or two difficulties on this subject, which I shall more fully 
explain farther on. One is, the difficulty of conceiving how 
the inferior animals could have been distributed to their present 
places of residence from a single centre of creation without a 
miracle. Certain it is, that, as the climate and position of 
land and water now are, they could not thus migrate without 
certain destruction to many of them. But by this theory they 
might have been created within the districts which they now 
occupy. 

Another difficulty solved by this theory is, that several 
hundred species of animals, that were created long before 
man, as their remains found in the tertiary strata show, still 
survive, and there is no evidence that they ever became 



OTHER SUPPOSITIONS. 63 

extinct ; nor need they have been destroyed and recreated, 
if Dr. Smith's theory be true. Nevertheless, it does not ap- 
pear to me essential to a satisfactory reconciliation of geology 
and revelation, that we should adopt it. But coming from 
such high authority, and sustained as it is by powerful argu- 
ments, it commends itself to our candid examination. 

Secondly. I remark, that it is not necessary that we should 
be perfectly sure that the method which has been described, 
or any other, of bringing geology into harmony with the Bible, 
is infallibly true. It is only necessary that it should be sus- 
tained by probable evidence ; that it should fairly meet the 
geological difficulty on the one hand, and do no violence to 
the language or spirit of the Bible on the other. This is suf- 
ficient, surely, to satisfy every philosophical mind, that there 
is no collision between geology and revelation. But should 
it appear hereafter, either from the discoveries of the geolo- 
gist or the philologist, that our views must be somewhat 
modified, it would not show that the previous views had been 
insufficient to harmonize the two subjects ; but only that here, 
as in every other department of human knowledge, perfection 
is not attained, except by long-continued efforts. 

I make these remarks, because it is well known that other 
modes, besides that which I have defended, have been pro- 
posed to accomplish the same object ; and it is probable that, 
even to this day, one or two of these modes may be defended, 
although the general opinion of geologists is in favor of that 
which I have exhibited. 

Some, for instance, have supposed that the fossiliferous 
strata may all have been deposited in the sixteen hundred 
years between the creation and the deluge, and by that 
catastrophe have been lifted out of the ocean. Others have 
imagined them all produced by that event. But the most 



64 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED. 

plausible theory regards the six days of creation as periods 
of great, though indefinite length, during which all the changes 
exhibited by the strata of rocks took place. The arguments 
in defence of this view are the following : 1. The word day 
is often used in Scripture to express a period of indefinite 
length. (Luke xvii. 24. John viii. 56. Job xiv. 6.) 2. The 
sun, moon, and stars were not created till the fourth day ; so 
that the revolution of the earth on its axis, in twenty-four 
hours, may not have existed previously, and the light and 
darkness that alternated may have had reference to some 
other standard. 3. The Sabbath, or seventh day, in which 
God rested from his work, has not yet terminated ; and there 
is reason to suppose the demiurgic days may have been at 
least of equal length. 4. This interpretation corresponds 
remarkably with the traditional cosmogonies of some heathen 
nations, as the ancient Etruscans and modern Hindoos ; and 
it was also adopted by Philo and other Jewish writers. 5. The 
order of creation, as described in Genesis, corresponds to that 
developed by geology. This order, according to Cuvier and 
Professor Jameson, is as follows: 1. The earth was covered 
with the sea without inhabitants. 2. Plants were created on 
the third day, and are found abundantly in the coal measures. 
3. On the fifth day, the inhabitants of the waters, then flying 
things, then great reptiles, and then mammiferous animals, 
were created. 4. On the sixth day, man was created. 

The following are the objections to this interpretation : 
1. The word day is not used figuratively in other places of 
Genesis, (unless perhaps Gen. ii. 4,) though it is sometimes so 
used in other parts of Scripture. 2. In the fourth command- 
ment, where the days of creation are referred to, (Exod. xx. 
9, 10, 11,) no one can doubt but that the six days of labor and 
the Sabbath, spoken of in the ninth and tenth verses, are literal 



DAYS, LONG PERIODS. 65 

days. By what rule of interpretation can the same word in 
the next verse be made to mean indefinite periods ? 3. From 
Gen. ii. 5, compared with Gen. i. 11, 12, it seems that it 
had not rained on the earth till the third day — a fact alto- 
gether probable if the days were of twenty-four hours, but 
absurd if they were long periods. 4. Such a meaning is 
forced and unnatural, and, therefore, not to be adopted with- 
out urgent necessity. 5. This hypothesis assumes that Moses 
describes the creation of all the animals and plants that have 
ever lived on the globe. But geology decides that the species 
now living, since they are not found in the rocks any lower 
down than man is, (with a few exceptions,) could not have 
been contemporaries with those in the rocks, but must have 
been created when man was ; that is, on the sixth day. Of 
such a creation no mention is made in Genesis. The infer- 
ence is, that Moses does not describe the creation of the ex- 
isting races, but only of those that lived thousands of years 
earlier, and whose existence was scarcely suspected till mod- 
ern times. Who will admit such an absurdity ? If any one 
takes the ground that the existing races were created with 
the fossil ones, on the third and fifth days, then he must show, 
what no one can, why the remains of the former are not found 
mixed with the latter. 6. Though there is a general resem- 
blance between the order of creation, as described in Genesis 
and by geology, yet when we look at the details of the crea- 
tion of the organic world, as required by this hypothesis, we 
find manifest discrepancy, instead of the coincidence asserted 
by some distinguished advocates of these views. Thus the 
Bible represents plants only to have been created on the third 
day, and animals not till the fifth ; and hence, at least, the 
lower half of the fossiliferous rocks ought to contain nothing 
but vegetables. Whereas, in fact, the lower half of these 
6* 



66 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED. 

rocks, all below the carboniferous, although abounding in ani- 
mals, contain scarcely any plants, and those in the lowest 
strata, fucoids, or sea-weeds. But the Mosaic account of 
the third day's work evidently describes flowering and seed- 
bearing plants, not flowerless and seedless algse. Again : 
reptiles are described in Genesis as created on the fifth day ; 
but reptilia and batrachians existed as early as the time when 
the lower carboniferous, and even old red sandstone strata, 
were in a course of deposition, as their tracks on those rocks 
in Nova Scotia and Pennsylvania evince. In short, if we 
maintain that Moses describes fossil as well as living species, 
we find discrepancy, instead of correspondence, between his 
order of creation and that of geology. But admit that he 
describes only existing species, and all difficulties vanish. 

It appears, then, that the objections to this interpretation of 
the word day are more geological than exegetical. It has 
accordingly been mostly abandoned by men, who, from their 
knowledge both of geology and scriptural exegesis, were best 
qualified to judge. And even those who are inclined to adopt 
it do also believe in the existence of a long period between 
the beginning and the demiurgic days. From the earliest 
times, however, in which we have writings upon the Scrip- 
tures, we find men doubting whether the demiurgic days of 
Moses are to be taken in a strictly literal sense. Josephus 
and Philo regarded the six days' work as metaphorical. Ori- 
gen took a similar view, and St. Augustin says, " It is difficult, 
if not impossible, for us to conceive what sort of days these 
were." In more modern times, we find many able writers, 
as Hahn, Hensler, De Luc, Professors Lee and Wait, of the 
University of Cambridge, Faber, &c, adopting modifications 
of the same views. Mr. Faber, however, a few years since, 
abandoned this opinion ; and for the most part, geologists and 



DR. KNAPP'S INTERPRETATION. 67 

theologians prefer to regard the six days as lueitu days of 
' twenty-four hours. But, generally, they would not regard the 
opposite opinion to be as unreasonable as it would be to re- 
ject the Bible from any supposed collision with geology. Yet, 
in general, they suppose it sufficient, to meet all difficulties, to 
allow of an indefinite interval between the " beginning " and 
the six days 1 work of creation. 

In the truly scientific system of theology by the venerable 
Dr. Knapp, we find a proposed interpretation of the Mosaic 
account of the creation, that would bring it into harmony with 
geology. " If we would form a clear and distinct notion of 
this whole description of creation," says he, " we must con- 
ceive of six separate pictures, in which this great work is repre- 
sented in each successive stage of its progress towards com- 
pletion. And as the performance of the painter, though it 
must have natural truth for its foundation, must not be con- 
sidered, or judged of, as a delineation of mathematical or 
scientific accuracy, so neither must this pictorial representa- 
tion of the creation be regarded as literally and exactly true." 
He then alludes to the various hypotheses respecting the early 
state of the matter of the globe, and says, " Any of these 
hypotheses of the naturalist may be adopted or rejected, the 
Mosaic geogony notwithstanding.'" * 

Thirdly. The interpretation of Genesis, for which I have 
contended in this lecture, does not affect injuriously any 

* For a much more minute and extended account of the different 
modes proposed to reconcile geology and revelation, and indeed of 
their entire connection, I would refer to several papers in the Ameri- 
can Biblical Repository, especially to the number for October, 1835, 
p. 261. The progress of science has, indeed, rendered it desirable to 
change a few sentences in those articles ; but all their essential prin- 
ciples I still maintain. 



68 EPOCH OF THE EARTHS CREATION UNREVEALEDv 

doctrine of revelation. The community have, indeed, been 
taught to believe that the universe was all brought into exist- 
ence about six thousand years ago ; and it always produces a 
temporary evil to change the interpretation of a passage of 
the Bible, even though, as in this case, it be the result of 
new light shed upon it ; because it is apt to make individ- 
uals of narrow views lose their confidence in the rules of 
interpretation. But when the change is once made, it in- 
creases men's confidence in the Word of God, which is only 
purified, but not shaken, by all the discoveries of modern 
science. In the present case, it does not seem to be of the 
least consequence, so far as the great doctrines of the Bible 
are concerned, whether the world has stood six thousand, or 
six hundred thousand years. Nor can I conceive of any truth 
of the Bible, which does not shine with at least equal bright- 
ness and glory, if the longest chronological dates be adopted. 
Yet, fourthly. I maintain that several of these doctrines are 
far more strikingly and profitably exhibited, if the high antiquity 
of the globe be admitted. The common interpretation limits 
the operations of the Deity, so far as the material universe is 
concerned, to the last six thousand years. But the geological 
view carries the mind back along the flow of countless ages, 
and exhibits the wisdom of the Deity carrying forward, with 
infinite skill, a vast series of operations, each successive link 
springing out of that before it, and becoming more and more 
beautiful, until the glorious universe in which we live comes 
forth, not only the last, but the best of all. All this while, 
too, we perceive the heart of infinite Benevolence at work, 
either in fitting up the world for its future races of inhabitants, 
or in placing upon it creatures exactly adapted to its varying 
condition ; until man, at last, the crown of all, makes it his 
delightful abode, with nothing to lament but his own apos- 



THESE VIEWS SHOULD BE TAITGHT. 69 

lasy, — with every thing perfect but himself. Can the mind 
enter such an almost boundless field of contemplation as this, 
and not feel itself refreshed, and expanded, and filled with 
more exalted conceptions of the divine plans and divine be- 
nevolence than could possibly be obtained within the narrow 
limits of six thousand years ? But I will not enlarge ; for I 
hope I may be allowed, in future lectures, to enter this rich 
field of thought, when we have more leisure to survey its 
beautiful prospects, and pluck its golden fruit. 

Finally. If the geological interpretation of Genesis be true, 
then it should be taught to all classes of the community. It 
is, indeed, unwise to alter received interpretations of Scripture 
without very strong reasons. We should be satisfied that the 
new light, which has come to us, is not that of a transient 
meteor, but of a permanent luminary. We should, also, be 
satisfied, that the proposed change is consistent with the estab- 
lished rules of philology. If we introduce change of this sort 
before these points are settled, even upon passages that have 
no connection with fundamental moral principles, we shall 
distress many an honest and pious heart, and expose ourselves 
to the necessity of further change. But on the other hand, 
if we delay the change long after these points are fairly set- 
tled, we shall excite the suspicion that we dread to have the 
light of science fall upon the Bible. Nor let it be forgotten 
how disastrous has ever been the- influence of the opinion that 
theologians teach one thing, and men of science another. 
Now, in the case under consideration, is there any reason to 
doubt the high antiquity of the globe, as demonstrated by 
geology ? If any point, not capable of mathematical demon- 
stration in physical science, is proved, surely this truth is 
established. And how easily reconciled to the inspired record, 
by an interpretation entirely consistent with the rules of phi- 



70 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED. 

lology, and with the scope of the passage, and the tenor of the 
Bible ! It seems to me far more natural, and easy to under- 
stand, than that interpretation which it became necessary to 
introduce when the Copernican system was demonstrated to 
be true. The latter must have seemed to conflict strongly 
with the natural and most obvious meaning of certain passages 
of the Bible, at a time when men's minds were ignorant of 
astronomy, and, I may add, of the true mode of interpreting 
the language of Scripture respecting natural phenomena. 
Nevertheless, the astronomical exegesis prevailed, and every 
child can novt see its reasonableness. So it seems to me that 
the child can easily apprehend the geological interpretation 
and its reasons. Why, then, should it not be taught to chil- 
dren, that they may not be liable to distrust the whole Bible, 
when they come to the study of geology ? I rejoice, how- 
ever, that the fears and prejudices of the pious and the learned 
are so fast yielding to evidence ; and I anticipate the period, 
when, on this subject, the child will learn the same thing in 
the Sabbath school and the literary institution. Nay, I an- 
ticipate the time as not distant, when the high antiquity of the 
globe will be regarded as no more opposed to the Bible than 
the earth's revolution round the sun and on its axis. Soon shall 
the horizon, where geology and revelation meet, be cleared 
of every cloud, and present only an unbroken and magnificent 
circle of truth. 



(71) 



LECTURE III. 

DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW OF ORGANIC BEINGS ON 
THIS GLOBE FROM THE BEGINNING. 

Death has always been regarded by man as the king of 
terrors, and the climax of all mortal evils ; and by Christians 
its introduction into the world has generally been imputed to 
the apostasy of our first parents. For the threatening an- 
nounced to them in Eden was, In the day thou eatest of the 
forbidden fruit thou shalt surely die, implying that if they 
did not eat thereof they might live. But when the woman saw 
tJw tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the 
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the 
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with 
her, and he did eat. As the result, it is generally supposed 
that a great change took place in animals and plants, and from 
being immortal, they became mortal, in consequence of this 
fatal deed. But geology asserts that death existed in the 
world untold ages before man's creation, while physiology 
declares it to be a universal law of nature, and a wise and 
benevolent provision in such a world as ours. Now, the ques- 
tion is, Do not these different statements conflict with one 
another ? and if so, is the discrepancy apparent only, or real ? 
These are the questions which I now propose to examine, by 
all the light which we can obtain from the Bible and from 
science. 

The first point to be ascertained in this investigation will 
be, what the Bible teaches on this subject. 



72 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

In the first place, it distinctly informs us that the death 
which man experiences, came upon him in consequence 
of sin. 

The declaration of Paul on this subject is as distinct as lan- 
guage can be. By one man sin entered into the world, and 
death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have 
sinned. This corresponds with the original threatening re- 
specting the forbidden fruit. We know that our first parents 
ate of it ; we know, also, that they died ; and the apostle 
places these two facts in the relation of cause and effect. 

In the second place, the Bible does not inform us whether 
the death of the inferior animals and plants is the consequence 
of man's transgression. 

In order to prove this statement, it is necessary to show that 
the language of the Bible, which distinctly ascribes the intro- 
duction of death into the world, is limited to man. The first 
part of the sentence from Paul, just quoted, is indeed very 
general, and may include all organic natures. By one man 
sin entered into the world, and death by sin. What terms 
more general or explicit than these could be used ? Yet 
the remainder of the sentence shows that the apostle had man 
mainly in his eye ; and so death passed upon all men, for that 
all have sinned. The death here spoken of is limited ex- 
pressly to man ; and, therefore, it is not necessary to show 
that the same terms, in the first part of the sentence, had a 
more extended meaning. Death is spoken of here as the 
result of sin, and cannot, therefore, embrace animals and 
plants, which are incapable of sin. But after all, the first 
part of the sentence may intend to teach a general truth re- 
specting the origin of every kind of death in the world. It 
will be seen in the sequel, that to such a meaning I have no. 
objection, if it can be established. 



DEATH BEFORE MAN. 73 

Another very explicit passage on the introduction of death 
into the world is found in Corinthians : Since by man came 
death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Here, 
too, the last clause of the sentence limits the meaning to the 
human family. For no one will doubt that Christ is the man 
here spoken of, by whom came the resurrection of the dead. 
Now, unless the inferior animals and plants will share in a 
resurrection in consequence of what Christ has done, and in 
the redemption wrought out by him too, they cannot be in- 
cluded in this passage. And if neither of the texts now quoted 
extend in their application beyond the human race, I know 
of no other passage in the Bible that teaches, directly or infer- 
entially, that death among the inferior animals or plants re- 
sulted from man's apostasy. I do not deny that there may 
be a connection between these events ; certainly the Scrip- 
tures do not teach the contrary. But they appear to me rather 
to leave the question of such a connection undecided, and 
open for the examination of philosophers. If so, we may 
reason concerning the dissolution of animals, except men, 
without reference to the Scriptures. 

Under the second part of this investigation, I shall endeavor 
to show that geology proves violent and painful death to have 
existed in the world long before man's creation. 

In the oldest of the sedimentary rocks, the remains of ani- 
mals occur in vast numbers ; nor will any one, I trust, of 
ordinary intelligence, doubt but these relics once constituted 
living beings. Through the whole series of rocks, six miles 
in thickness, we find similar remains, even increasing in num- 
bers as we ascend ; but it is not till we reach the very highest 
stratum, the mere superficial coat of alluvium, that we find 
the remains of man. The vast multitudes, then, of organ- 
ized beings that lie entombed in rocks below alluvium, must 
7 



74 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

have yielded to death long before man received his sentence, 
Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou rtiurn. Will any one 
maintain that none of these animak- preceded man in the 
period of their existence ? Then why are the remains of men 
not found with theirs ? for his bony skeleton is as likely to 
be preserved and petrified as theirs. Moreover, so unlike to 
man and other existing tenants of the globe are many of these 
ancient animals, that the sure laws of comparative anatomy 
show us, that both races could not live and flourish in a world 
adapted to the one or the other. If the temperature had been 
warm enough for the fossil tribes, and all the circumstances 
of food and climate congenial to their natures, they would 
have been unsuited to the present races ; and if adapted to the 
latter, the former must have perished. The difference be- 
tween the animals and plants dug out of the rocks in this lati- 
tude, and those now inhabiting the same region of country, if 
certainly as great as that between the animals and plants oi 
the torrid and temperate zones ; in most cases it is greater 
Now, suppose that the animals and plants of the temperat- 
zones were to change places with those between the tropics 
A few species might survive, but the greater part would b* 
destroyed. Hence, a fortiori, had the living beings now en 
tombed in the rocks been placed in the same climate with 
those now alive upon the globe, the like result would have 
followed. I say a fortiori ; that is, for a stronger reason, 
the greater number must have perished ; and the stronger 
reason is, the greater difference between fossil and living spe- 
cies, than between the latter in torrid and temperate latitudes 
It is true that man is among the species capable of being 
acclimated to great extremes. And yet no physiologist will 
imagine that even his nature could have long survived in such 
a climate as formerly existed, when probably the atmosphere- 



ANIMALS ADAPTS -v Txlu STATE OF THE EARTH. 75 

was loaded with carbonic acid and other mephitic gases, and 
with moisture and miasms, the result of a rank vegetation, 
and of a temperature higher than now exists in equatorial 
countries. 

This argument, furnished by comparative anatomy, to show 
that man and the fossil animals couhi not have been contem- 
poraries, will probably seem to have little force to those who 
are not familiar with the history of organic life on the globe, 
and the distribution of species. It is not generally known 
that both animals and plants are usually confined to a partic- 
ular district, and that a removal beyond its boundaries, or the 
access of a few more degrees of cold, or heat, than is com- 
mon in the place assigned them by nature, will destroy them. 
To him who understands this curious history, the argument 
under consideration is perfectly satisfactory, to prove the ex- 
istence and consequent dissolution of myriads of living beings, 
anterior to man. " Judging by these indications of the habits 
of the animals," says the distinguished anatomist, Sir Charles 
Bell, " we acquire a knowledge of the condition of the earth 
during their period of existence ; that it was suited at one time 
to the scaly tribe of the lacertse, with languid motion ; at 
another, to animals of higher organization, with more varied 
and lively habits ; and finally, we learn that at any period pre- 
vious to man's creation, the surface of the earth would have 
been unsuitable to him. Any other hypothesis than that of a 
new creation of animals, suited to the successive changes in 
the inorganic matter of the globe, the condition of the water, 
atmosphere, and temperature, brings with it only an accumu- 
lation of difficulties." — The Hand, its Mech., &c. pp. 31 
and 115. 

But when arguing with those who do not feel the force of 
this argument, I would fall back upon that derived from the 



76 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

fact, that of the ten thousand species of animals dug out of 
the rocks beneath alluvium, no relic of man has been found ; 
and ask them whether they can explain such a fact, except 
by the supposition that man was not their contemporary. 

In his admirable Bridge water Treatise, Dr. Buckland has 
conclusively shown that the same great system of organiza- 
tion and adaptation has always prevailed on the globe. It was 
the same in those immensely remote ages, when the fossil 
animals lived, as it now is. And there is one feature of that 
system which deserves notice in this argument. At present, 
we know that there exist large tribes of animals, called car- 
nivorous, provided with organs expressly designed to enable 
them to destroy other animals, and of course to inflict on 
them violent and painful death. Exactly similar tribes, and 
in a like proportion, are found among the fossil animals. 
They were not always the same tribes ; but when one class 
of carnivora disappeared, another was created to take their 
place, in order to keep down the excessive multiplication of 
other races, which appears to be the grand object accom- 
plished by the carnivorous races. And that animals of such 
an organization not only lived in the ages preceding man's 
creation, but actually destroyed contemporary species, we 
have the evidence in the remains of the one animal enclosed 
in the body of another, by whom it was devoured for food ; 
and both are now converted into rock, and will testify to the 
most sceptical, that death among animals existed in the world 
before man's transgression. 

Under the third part of this investigation, I shall attempt 
to show that physiology teaches us that death is a general law 
of organic natures. 

It is not confined to animals, but embraces also plants. As 
they correspond in a striking manner to animals in their 



DEATH INEVITABLE 77 

reproduction and growth, so they do in their decay and disso- 
lution. In short, wherever in nature we find life and organi- 
zation, death is inevitable. The amount of vital energy varies 
in different species, and in individuals ; but in them all, it at 
length becomes exhausted, and the functions cease. After a 
certain period, the vessels which convey the nutritive mate- 
rials, and elaborate the proximate principles, become choked 
with excrementitious matter, assimilation is performed imper- 
fectly, and gradually the vital energies are overpowered, and 
yield up their charge to the disorganizing power of chemical 
agencies. We can hardly see why the delicate machinery 
cannot hold out longer than it does, or even indefinitely. But 
experience shows us that an irresistible law of nature has fixed 
the period of its operations. In the expressive language of 
Scripture, which applies to plants as well as animals, there is 
no discharge in that war. 

A little reflection will convince any one, that in such a sys- 
tem as exists in the world, this universal decay and dissolution 
are indispensable. For dead organic matter is essential to 
the support and nourishment of living beings. Admit, for the 
sake of the argument, (although it is obviously absurd in re 
spect to the carnivorous races,) that animals might be sup- 
ported by vegetable food. Yet, if plants must furnish nour- 
ishment for their successors, as well as for animals, the organic 
matter must at length be exhausted. And, furthermore, how 
could animals feed on plants without destroying, as they now 
do, multitudes of minute insects and animalcules ? It is ob- 
vious, also, that, for a variety of reasons, the multiplication 
of animals must soon be arrested, or famine would be the 
result, or the world would be more than full. In short, it 
would require an entirely different system in nature from the 
present, in order to exclude death from the world. To the 
7* 



78 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

existing system it is as essential as gravitation, and apparently 
just as much a law of nature. 

To strengthen this argument still further, comparative anat- 
omy testifies that large classes of animals have a structure 
evidently intended to enable them to feed on other tribes. 
The teeth of the more perfect carnivorous animals are adapted 
for seizing and tearing their prey, while those which feed on 
vegetables have cutting and grinding teeth, but not the canine. 
So the whole digestive apparatus in the carnivora is more 
simple, and of less extent, than in the herbivorous tribes, while 
in the former the gastric juice acts more readily upon flesh, and 
in the latter upon vegetables. The muscular apparatus, also, is 
developed in greater power in the former than in the latter, espe- 
cially in the neck and fore paw. Throughout all the classes of 
animals, those which feed on flesh are armed with poisonous 
fangs, or talons, or beaks, or other formidable weapons, while 
the vegetable feeders are usually in a great measure defence- 
less. In short, in the one class we find a Lsrfect adaptation, 
in all the organs, for destroying, digesting, and assimilating 
other animals, and in the other class, an arrangement, equally 
obvious, for procuring and digesting vegetables. Jndeed, you 
need only show the anatomist the skeleton, or even a very 
small part of the skeleton, of an unknown animal, to enable 
him, in most cases, to decide, what is the food of that animal, 
with almost as much certainty as if he had for years observed 
its habits. Who can doubt, then, that when a carnivorous 
animal employs the weapons with which nature has furnished 
it for the destruction of another animal, in order to satisfy 
its hunger, that it acts in obedience to a law of its being, origi- 
nally impressed upon its constitution by the Creator ? It is 
true, that even the flesh-eating animals may be taught for a 
lime to subsist upon vegetable products. But this is unnatural ; 



WHY DEATH MUST TAKE PLACE. 79 

and such an animal usually pays the price of thus inverting 
its original instinct, by disease and premature decay. In a 
state of nature, an animal would starve rather than thus vio- 
late its instinctive desires. 

I will allude to only one other fact, that shows death to be 
inseparable from organized beings, without a constant mirac- 
ulous interference, in such a world as ours. Animal organi- 
zation, in all conceivable circumstances, must be liable to 
accident, from mere mechanical force, by which life would 
be destroyed. It may be possible, perhaps, to conceive of a 
material tenement for the soul, which should be unaffected by 
all forms of mechanical violence and chemical action ; if, for 
instance, its constitution were analogous to that supposed 
medium through which light, heat, and electricity, and per- 
haps gravitation, act. But, surely, our present bodies are far 
enough removed from such conditions, being of all terrestrial 
things the most liable to ruin from the causes above mentioned. 

The conclusions from all th< A se facts and reasonings are, 
that death is an essential feature of the present system of 
organized nature ; that it must have entered into the plan of 
creation in the divine mind originally, and consequently must 
have existed in the world before the apostasy of man. Whether 
the entire system of death had any connection with that event, 
or whether there is any thing peculiar in the death endured 
by the human family, will be questions for examination in a 
subsequent part of my lecture. 

In opposition to these conclusions, however, the common 
theory of death m intains that, when man transgressed, there 
was an entire change throughout all organic nature ; so that 
animals and plants, which before contained a principle of im- 
mortal life, were smitten with the hereditary contagion of 
disease and death. Those animals which, before that event, 



80 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

were gentle and herbivorous, or frugivorous, suddenly became 
ferocious or carnivorous. The climate, too, changed, and 
the sterile soil sent forth the thorn and the thistle, in the place 
of the rich flowers and fruits of Eden. The great English 
poet, in his Paradise Lost, has clothed this hypothesis in a 
most graphic and philosophical dress ; and probably his de- 
scriptions have done more than the Bible to give it currency. 
Indeed, could the truth be known, I fancy that, on many points 
of secondary importance, the current theology of the day has 
been shaped quite as much by the ingenious machinery of 
Paradise Lost as by the Scriptures ; the theologians having 
so mixed up the ideas of Milton with those derived from 
inspiration, that they find it difficult to distinguish between 
them. 

In the case under consideration, Milton does not limit the 
change induced by man's apostasy to sublunary things, but, 
like a sagacious philosopher, perceives, also, that the heavenly 
bodies must have been diverted from their paths. 

"At that tasted fruit, 
The sun, as from Thyestian banquet, turned 
His course intended ; else how had the world 
Inhabited, though sinless, more than now, 
Avoided pinching cold and scorching heat ? " 

This change of the sun's path, as the poet well knew, could 
be effected only by some change in the motion of the earth. 

" Some say he bid the angels turn askance 
The poles of earth, twice ten degrees and more, 
From the sun's axle ; they with labor pushed 
Oblique the centric globe." 



CHANGES AT THE FALL. 81 

Next we have the effect upon the lower orders of animals 
described. 

" Discord first, 
Daughter of sin, among the irrational 
Death introduced : through fierce antipathy, 
Beast now with beast 'gan war, and fowl with fowl, 

And fish with fish ; to graze the herb all leaving, 
Devoured each other." 

The question arises here, whether such views are sustained 
ny the Bible and by science. Few, I presume, would se- 
riously maintain that the act of our first parents, which pro- 
duced what Dr. Chalmers calls " an unhingement " of the 
human race, resulted likewise in a change in the motion of 
the earth and the heavenly bodies ; since the Bible so clearly 
describes the previous ordination of days, years, and seasons, 
on the fourth day of creation. And is there any thing in the 
language of the Bible that will justify the opinion that such 
changes as this theory supposes took place in the produc- 
tions of the earth, and in the nature of its animals ? No anat- 
omist can surely be made to believe that, without a constant 
miracle, our carnivorous animals can have become herbivorous, 
without such a change in their organization as must have 
amounted to a new creation. And such a metamorphosis can 
hardly have passed unnoticed by the sacred writer. True, 
only the gramineous and herbaceous substances are in the 
Bible given to the inferior animals for food, while the fruits 
are assigned to man. But this passage seems only to be a 
designation of one part of vegetable productions to men, and 
another to other animals, and can hardly be supposed to pre- 
clude the idea that there might be other tribes requiring ani- 
mal food. 



82 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

The sentence pronounced upon the serpent for his agency 
in man's apostasy seems, at first view, favorable to the opin- 
ion that animal natures experienced at the same time impor- 
tant changes ; for he is supposed to have been deprived of 
limbs, and condemned henceforth to crawl upon the earth, 
and to make the dust his food. But is it the most probable 
interpretation of this passage, which makes the tempter a lit- 
eral serpent, or only a symbolical one ? The naturalist does 
not surely find that serpents live upon dust, for they all are 
carnivorous, and they are as perfectly adapted to crawl upon 
the ground as other animals to different modes of progression ; 
and though cursed above all cattle, they are apparently as 
happy as other animals. Hence the probability is, that an 
evil spirit is described in Genesis under the name and figure 
of a serpent. This conclusion is supported by other parts of 
Scripture, where the tempter is in several places declared to 
be the devil, the old serpent, and the great dragon. 

A part of the sentence passed upon man seems, also, at 
first view, to imply an important change in the vegetable pro- 
ductions of the earth ; for the ground is cursed for man's 
sake : it would henceforth produce to him thorns and thistles, 
and in the sweat of his brow must he eat of the fruits of it, 
all the days of his life. Now, will not the condition and 
character of Adam show how this curse might be fulfilled, 
without any change in the productions of the soil ? The 
garden of Eden, where man had lived in his innocence, was 
doubtless some sunny and balmy spot, where the air was de- 
licious, and the earth poured forth her abundant fruits spon- 
taneously ; and although he was called to keep and dress that 
garden, yet, with a contented and holy heart, and with no fac- 
titious wants, the work was neither labor nor sorrow. But 
now he is driven from that garden into regions far less fertile, 



DEATH BEFORE THE FALL. 83 

where the sterile soil can be made to yield its fruits only by 
the sweat of the brow, and where the thorn and the thistle 
dispute their right of soil with salutary plants ; and in his 
heart, too, unholy and unsubdued passions have place, which 
will infuse sorrow into all his labors. 

As I have remarked in another place, I cannot see why the 
functions of animal and vegetable organization might not 
have gone on forever without decay and death, if such had 
been the Creator's will. In other words, I do not see why 
the operation of the organs should at length be impeded and 
cease, as we know they do universally. Hence I can 
conceive that it might have been otherwise originally ; and in 
the case of man it is possible, as we shall see farther on, that 
a change of this sort may have taken place at the time of his 
apostasy. But, after all, it strikes me that the Bible furnishes 
very clear evidence that the same system of decay and death 
prevailed before the apostasy which now prevails. The com- 
mand given, both to animals and to man, to be fruitful and 
multiply, implies the removal of successive races by death ; 
otherwise the world would ere long be overstocked. A sys- 
tem of death is certainly a necessary counterpart to a system 
of reproduction ; and hence, where we know the one to exist, 
the presumption is very strong that the other exists also. 
There is no escape from this inference, except to call in the 
aid of miraculous power to preserve the proper balance 
among different races of animals, by preventing their mul- 
tiplication. Such an interference I am always ready to 
admit, where the Scriptures assert it. But to imagine a mir- 
acle without proof, merely to escape a fair conclusion, is, to 
say the least, very wretched logic. God never introduces a 
miracle where he can employ the ordinary agency of nature 
for accomplishing his purposes. Nor should we resort to one 



84 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

without the express testimony of the Bible, which, on this 
subject, is our only source of evidence. 

We have in Scripture the same kind of proof that plants 
were subject to decay and death, before the fall, as we have 
in respect to animals. For in the account of the creation of 
plants on the third day, we find them described as bearing 
seeds ; and does not this clearly imply the same system of 
reproduction which now exists throughout the vegetable king- 
dom ? In short, an unprejudiced mind, in reading the history 
of the world in Genesis, before and after the fall, can hardly 
fail of the conviction, that animals and plants were originally 
created on the same plan, as to reproduction, decay, and 
death, which now prevails. Great, indeed, must have been 
the change at the fall, if, previous to that time, their structure 
excluded all the organs and means of reproduction ; as must 
have been the case if decay and death were also excluded. 
And it is strange that the sacred writer should take no notice 
of such a change. He states the effect of sin upon the three 
parties directly concerned in it, viz., the tempter, Adam, and 
Eve ; and if a transformation of all vegetable and animal 
natures, great enough almost to constitute a new creation, 
did take place, it could hardly have been passed in silence. 
Even in the case of man, we have no remarkable physical 
change. The effect seems to have been chiefly confined to 
his intellectual constitution, where we should expect the effect 
of sin to be primarily felt. There, indeed, in man's noblest 
part, has the havoc been the most terrific, and powerfully has 
its operation there reacted upon the body, so as to make death, 
in the case of man, the king of terrors. 

We find, then, insuperable objections to the prevalent 
notion that an entire revolution took place at the fall in the 
material world, and especially in organic nature. Those 



DEATH A BENEVOLENT PROVISION. 85 

passages of Scripture which, literally interpreted, seem to 
imply some changes of this sort, are easily understood as 
vivid figurative representations of the effects of sin upon 
men, while their literal interpretation would involve us in in- 
extricable difficulties. We rest, therefore, in the conclusion, 
that, whatever connection there may be between death and 
the existing system of organic and inorganic nature, no im- 
portant change took place at the time of man's first transgres- 
sion ; in other words, the present system is that which was 
originally determined upon in the divine mind, and not the 
original plan altered after man's transgression. 

The fourth step in the investigation of this subject leads 
me to attempt to show that, in the present system of the world, 
death, to the inferior animals, is a benevolent provision, and 
to man, also, when not aggravated or converted into a curse 
by his own sin. 

In examining this point, as well as many others in natural 
theology, where the existence of evil is concerned, we must 
assume that the present system of the world is the best which 
infinite wisdom and benevolence could devise. And this we 
may consistently do. For the prominent design throughout 
nature appears to be beneficial to animal natures, and suffer- 
ing is only incidental, and happiness, moreover, is super- 
added to the functions of animals, where it is unnecessary to 
the perfect performance of the function. We may be cer- 
tain, therefore, that the Author of such a system can neither 
be malevolent nor indifferent to the happiness of animals, but 
must be benevolent ; and, therefore, the system must be the 
best possible, since such a Being could constitute no other. 

Now, death being an essential feature of such a system, we 
should expect to find it, as a whole, a benevolent provision. 
But, in the case of man, the Bible represents it as a penal 
8 



86 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

infliction, and such is its general aspect in the human family 
So far as the mere extinction of life is concerned, it is the 
same in man as in other animals ; but sin arms it with a 
deadly sting, by pointing the offender to a world of ret- 
ribution, as he sees the menacing dart of the great de- 
stroyer aimed at his heart. And, indeed, through all his 
days, man's power of anticipation keeps death ever before 
him, as the end of all his present enjoyments, and the com- 
mencement, it may be, of unmitigated suffering. But the 
inferior animals, being incapable of sin, find none of these 
aggravations to give keenness to their final sufferings. No 
anticipation of death keeps it ever in view, as a terrific 
enemy. No guilty conscience points them to a righteous 
throne of judgment, where they must be arraigned. But 
when the stroke comes, it falls unexpectedly, and the mere 
physical suffering is all that gives severity to their dis- 
solution. 

In the case of man, too, there is the sundering of ties too 
strong for any thing but death to break ; — ties which bind him 
to kindred, friends, and country ; and often this separation 
constitutes the most painful part of the closing scene. But in 
the case of animals, we have no reason to suppose these 
attachments, so far as they exist, to be very strong ; nay, in 
most cases they are certainly very weak. And even did they 
exist, the brute would not be conscious that death would re- 
move him from the society of his beloved companions. 

The inferior animals, also, usually die either a violent and 
sudden death, inflicted by some carnivorous enemy, or in ex- 
treme old age, by mere decay of the natural powers, without 
disease. The violent death can usually have in it little of 
suffering ; and the slow decay still less. But although some 
men die violent deaths, how few survive to extreme old age, 



DEATH OF THE CHRISTIAN. 87 

and sink at last almost unconsciously into the grave, because 
the vital energies are exhausted ! Were this the case, the phys- 
ical terrors of death would be almost taken away, and we 
should pass as quietly into eternity as a lamp goes out when 
the oil is exhausted. But in general we see a constitution 
yet unbroken, struggling with fierce disease, and yielding to 
its fate only with terrific agonies ; because sin has early im- 
planted the seeds of disease in the constitution. 

Imagine, now, that death should come upon a man in the 
course of nature ; that is, without disease, and with little suf- 
fering, and with no painful forebodings of conscience. Sup- 
pose, moreover, that the dying individual should feel that the 
change passing upon him would assuredly introduce him to a 
new and spiritual body, undecaying, and adapted to the oper- 
ations of the mind ; that it would, in fact, be the building of 
God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ; 
and that the soul, after death, would enter into free and full 
communion with all that is great and ennobling in the uni- 
verse ; and that joys, inconceivable and eternal, would hence- 
forth be its portion : O, how different would such a death be 
from what we usually witness ! Yet, were men all to accept 
of the offered ransom from sin and death, and, under the 
guidance of pure religious principle, were to pay a strict 
regard to hygienic laws, such would be, for the most part, the 
character of the death they would' experience. The excepted 
cases would be those of violent and sudden death from acci- 
dent, or of disease from unavoidable exposure, and they 
would be comparatively few. So that, in fact, an observance 
of the laws, physical and moral, which God has ordained, 
would change almost the entire aspect of death, even in this 
fallen world. 

These remarks seem necessary in order to obtain a correct 



88 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

idea of the character of death, when not aggravated by the 
sins of men. For those aggravations seem superadded, in 
the case of men, as penal inflictions for their sins ; and we 
ought to leave them out of the account, when we are consid- 
ering death as a benevolent provision. I do not contend that 
death, even in its mildest forms, is no evil ; nor that the 
apostasy of man was not the cause of its introduction into 
the world. These points I shall consider in another place. 
But I contend that, in the present system of the world, death, 
when not aggravated by the sins of men, is to be regarded as 
a benevolent provision, bringing with it more happiness than 
misery; although, had sin never existed, a system productive 
of still greater enjoyment might have been adopted in this 
world. But as the arrangements of the world now are, death 
affords the following evidences of infinite benevolence and 
wisdom. 

In the first place, it is a transfer from a lower to a higher 
state of existence. 

Let me here be understood distinctly as speaking only of the 
death of those accountable beings, who, by the transforming 
power of grace, have become prepared for a higher and per- 
fectly holy state of being. For the death of all others can be 
looked on only in the light of a terrible penal infliction. But the 
righteous, when they die, — and all may, if they will, become 
righteous, — have before them the certain prospect of immor- 
tal happiness, such as eye. hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
neither hath it entered the heart of man to conceive. They 
enter upon fulness of joy, and pleasures forevermore ; and 
therefore death to them is infinite gain. 

Whether the inferior animals will exist again after death 
is a more doubtful point. There is certainly nothing in 
Scripture decisive against their future existence ; for the 



GERMAN EXPOSITION. 89 

passage in Psalms which says, that man that is in honor and 
abideth not is like the brutes that perish, if understood to 
mean the annihilation of animals, would prove also the anni- 
hilation of wicked men. And while most men of learning 
and piety have suspended their opinion on the existence of 
the inferior animals after death, for want of evidence, some 
have been decided advocates of the future happy existence 
of all beings, who exhibit a spark of intelligence. Not a 
few distinguished German theologians and philosophers regard 
the whole visible creation, both animate and inanimate, as at 
present in a confined and depressed state, and struggling for 
freedom. On this principle Tholuck explains that most diffi- 
cult passage in Romans, which declares that the whole crea- 
tion groaneth and travaileth together in pain until now. He 
supposes this " bound or fettered state of nature," both ani- 
mate and inanimate, to have a casual connection with sin, 
and the death accompanying it among men ; and, therefore, 
when men are freed from sin and death, the creation itself, 
also, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into 
the glorious liberty of the children of God. The kingdom 
of God, according to Tholuck, Martin Luther, and many 
other distinguished theologians, will not be transferred to 
heaven at the end of the world, but be established on earth, 
where all these transformations of the animate and inanimate 
creation will take place. 

This exposition surely carries with it a great deal of natu- 
ralness and probability ; and if it be true, death to the infe- 
rior animals must surely be an indication of great benevo- 
lence on the part of the Deity, since it introduces them to a 
higher state of existence. But if it be rejected, still the gen- 
eral principle is eminently applicable to the case of man. 

In the second place, the system of a succession of races 
8* 



90 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

of animals on earth, which death alone would render possible, 
secures a much greater collective amount of happiness than 
a single race of animals, endowed with earthly immortality. 
I sustain this position by three arguments. The first is, that 
young animals enjoy more, in the same period of time, than 
those more advanced in age. This may result, in part, in the 
present organization of animals, from the superior health 
and vigor enjoyed by the young. But it is due, also, in part, 
and largely, to the novelty of the scenes presented in early 
life. And so far as it results from the latter cause, it proves 
that a succession of races would enjoy more than a single 
race continued indefinitely, because the successive races 
would always be comparatively young. A single continuous 
race might, indeed, be supposed always possessed of the un- 
abated vigor and health of youth ; but, of necessity, objects 
must soon lose the charm of novelty, and, therefore, produce 
less of enjoyment. The second argument is, that a succes- 
sion of races admits of the contemporaneous existence of a 
greater number of species than could coexist were none re- 
moved by death. If only one undying race occupied the globe, 
it must subsist exclusively on vegetable food. Whereas much 
the largest part of the species that now live are carnivorous 
or omnivorous. All the enjoyment of these flesh-eating ani- 
mals is, therefore, so much clear gain to the stock of happi- 
ness, with the exception of the suffering which death inflicts. 
Now, but few of the inferior animals perish by disease. 
Some die by old age, and these suffer almost nothing. But 
the greater part are suddenly destroyed by the violent assault 
of the carnivorous races. And as the pangs of death are 
momentary, and there are no anticipations of its approach, 
nor sunderings of the ties of affection, nor dread of an here- 
after, the suffering endured must be an exceedingly small 



CONCLUSIONS. 91 

drawback upon the enjoyment of the whole life. It is far less 
than it would be, if animals were left to perish by famine, or 
by slow degrees, from deficient nourishment ; so that the exist- 
ence of the carnivorous races, seeming at first view intended 
to convert the world into a vast Golgotha, does in fact add 
greatly to the amount of enjoyment, because it so prodigiously 
multiplies the number of species of animals, and lessens the 
sufferings of death. In the third place, death exerts a salutary 
moral influence upon man, and, as a consequence, swells the 
amount of his happiness. And although this consideration 
affects only one species, yet man's position on the scale of 
being makes his happiness an object of no small importance. 

The final conclusions at which we arrive, then, are, first, 
that death is a fixed and universal law of nature, essential to 
the existence of the present system of the world ; and sec- 
ondly, that, like all other laws of nature, it exhibits marks of 
benevolence, and wise adaptation on the part of the Author 
of nature. The question will indeed arise in every reflecting 
mind, why a Being of infinite power and wisdom could not 
have secured to his creatures the benefits resulting from a 
system of death, without the attendant suffering. But this 
question resolves itself into the inquiry, why evil exists at all ; 
and although, in my own view, it exists most probably as a 
means of greater happiness to the universe, yet on this point 
the wisest minds have differed and been baffled, and equally 
perplexing is it to every form of religion. Hence it is no 
objection to any views we may adopt, that they leave this 
question where they found it. 

The fifth and last step in our investigation of this subject 
is to show how science, experience, and revelation may be 
reconciled on the subject of death. 

We have seen that geology is not alone in proving death 



92 DEATH A UNIVEKSAL LAW. 

to be a law of nature, essential to the present system of the 
world, and, indeed, indicative of divine wisdom and benevo- 
lence. For anatomy and physiology, as well as experience, 
teach us the same truths. And natural theology shows that, 
if death is a law of organic nature, it must have entered into 
the plan of the universe in the divine mind, and was not the 
result of any change of organic nature subsequent to the fall 
of man. Can these views be reconciled with the declarations 
of Scripture, which certainly represent death among the 
human family, if not among the lower animals, to be the 
consequence of sin ? 

There are three suppositions by which all apparent discre- 
pancy between science and revelation, on this subject, may be 
removed. I shall present them, with the arguments in their 
favor, leaving to others to decide which is most reasonable. 
For they are independent of one another, though not incon- 
sistent ; and, therefore, even though different persons should 
prefer different theories, they need not be regarded as in op- 
position to one another. 

The first theoiy proceeds on the supposition that death is 
a universal law of organic nature, from which man was ex- 
empted so long as he obeyed the law of God. But I will 
present it in the language of its distinguished author. " In 
the state of pristine purity," says Dr. J. Pye Smith, " the 
bodily constitution of man was exempted from the law of 
progress towards dissolution, which belonged to the inferior 
animals. It must have been maintained in that distinguished 
peculiarity by means to us unknown ; and it would seem 
probable that, had not man fallen by his transgression, he, 
and each of his posterity, would, after faithfully sustaining 
an individual probation, have passed through a change with- 
out dying, and have been exalted to a more perfect state of 
existence." — Scrip, and Geo!. 4th ed. p. 208. 



DEATH MIGHT HAVE EEEN PREVENTED. 93 

According to this theory of Dr. Smith, man saw all other 
organic beings around him subject to decay and death, while 
he, as a special favor, remained unaffected by the general 
law. The penalty of disobedience was, that he would for- 
feit this enviable distinction, and be subjected to death more 
revolting than the brutes. The reward of obedience was a 
continued immunity from evil, and a final translation, without 
suffering, to a more exalted condition. And certainly the 
nature of the case furnishes a strong presumptive argument 
to show that man did thus stand exempted from the decay 
and death which reigned all around him. If not, what 
weight or meaning would there be in the penalty ? If 
he had not seen death in other animals, how could he have 
any idea of the nature of the threatening ? And we may be 
sure that God never promulgates a penalty without affording 
his subjects the means of comprehending it. 

I have already intimated that I could hardly see why there 
exists in all organic natures a tendency to decay and death, 
except in the will of the Creator. May not that tendency 
result, like the varieties among men, from some slightly mod- 
ifying cause implanted by the Deity in the nature of the ani- 
mal or plant ? And if so, might not an opposite tendency 
be imparted to one or more species, so that the decay and 
death of the one, and the continued existence of the other, 
might be equally well explained on physiological principles ? 
If this suggestion be admitted, it would not be necessary to 
resort to any supernatural or miraculous agency to show how 
sinless man in paradise might have stood unaffected by decay, 
the common lot of all other races. It must be confessed, 
however, that it is not as easy to see how, by any natural 
law, he could have been proof against mechanical violence 
and chemical rgencies; there we must admit miraculous 



94 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

protection, or a self-restoring power more wonderful than that 
possessed by the polypi. 

These views receive strong confirmation from the history 
of the tree of life, that grew in the garden of Eden. The 
very name implies that it was intended to give or preserve 
life. That it had in it a power to preserve life is evident 
from the sentence pronounced on man. And the Lord God 
saith, Behold, the man hath become as one of us, to know good 
and evil ; and now, lest he should put forth his hand, and 
take also of the tree of life, and live forever, therefore the 
Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden. Now, 
it appears to me to be in perfect harmony with the principles 
of physiology to suppose that there might be a virtue in the 
tree of life — either in its fruit or some other part — to arrest 
that tendency to decay and dissolution which we now find in 
all animal bodies. It does seem that it would require only 
some slight modification of the present functions of the hu- 
man frame to keep the wheels of life in motion indefinitely. 
When in Eden, man had access to this sure defence against 
disease. But after he had sinned, he must forfeit this privi- 
lege, and, like the plants and inferior animals, submit to the 
universal law of dissolution. Surely, of all the expositions 
that have been given of the meaning of this passage, this is 
the most rational, and it does throw an air of great plausibil- 
ity over Dr. Smith's views. 

It will occur to every reflecting mind that we have in Scrip- 
ture a few interesting examples of that change, without 
dying, from the present to a higher state of being, which the 
theory of Dr. Smith supposes would have been the happy lot 
of all mankind had they not sinned. By faith Enoch was 
translated, that he should not see death. He walked with God, 
and he was not ; for God took him. Glad y would philoso- 



TRANSLATION. 95 

phys here interpose a thousand questions as to the manner 
in which this wonderful change took place ; but the Scriptures 
are silent. It was enough for the heart of piety that God was 
the author of the change. And so, in the case of Elijah, we 
have the sublimely simple description only — And it came to 
pass, as they still went on and talked, that, behold, there ap- 
peared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them 
both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into 
heaven. Except the transfiguration of Christ, which appears 
to have been of an analogous character, these are all the 
actual examples of translation on record. But the apostle 
declares that, in the closing scene of this world's history, this 
same change shall pass upon multitudes. Behold, I show 
you a mystery. We shall not all sleep ; but we shall all be 
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
trump ; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be 
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Abundant 
evidence is, therefore, before us, that the great change which 
death now causes us to pass through with fear and dread, 
might as easily have been, for the whole human family, a 
transition delightful in anticipation and joyful in experience. 

The second theory which will reconcile science and revela- 
tion on the subject of death, is one long since illustrated by 
Jeremy Taylor. And since he could have had no reference 
to geology in proposing it, because geology did not exist in 
his day, we may be sure, either that he learnt it from the 
Bible, or that other branches of knowledge teach the exist- 
ence of death as a general law of nature, as well as geology. 

44 That death, therefore," says Taylor, " which God threat- 
ened to Adam, and which passed upon his posterity, is not 
the going out of this world, but the manner of going. If he 
had staid in innocence, he should have gone placidly and 



96 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

fairly, without vexatious and afflictive circumstances ; he 
should not have died by sickness, defect, misfortune, or un- 
willingness. But when he fell, then he began to die ; the same 
day, (God said,) and that must needs be true ; and, there- 
fore, it must mean upon that very day he fell into an evil 
and dangerous condition, a state of change and affliction ; 
then death began ; that is, man began to die by a natural 
diminution, and aptness to disease and misery. Change 
or separation of soul and body is but accidental to death ; 
death may be with or without either; but the formality, the 
curse, and the sting, — that is, misery, sorrow, fear, diminution, 
defect, anguish, dishonor, and whatsoever is miserable and 
afflictive in nature, — that is death. Death is not an action, but 
a whole state and condition ; and this was first brought in 
upon us by the offence of one man." 

In more recent times, the essential features of these views 
of Taylor have been adopted by the ablest commentators and 
theologians, and sustained by an appeal to Scripture.* The 
position which they take is, that the death threatened as the 
penalty of disobedience has a more extended meaning than 
physical death. It is a generic term, including all penal 
evils; so that when death is spoken of as the penalty of sin, 
we may substitute the word curse, wrath, destruction, and the 
like. Thus, in Gen. ii. 17, we might read, In the day thou 
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely be cursed ; and in Rom. v. 
12, By one man sin entered into the world, and the curse by 
sin, &c. In his commentary on this passage, Professor Stu- 
art says, " I see no philological escape from the conclusion 
that death, in the sense of penalty for sin in its full measure, 

* See Stuart and Hodge on Rom. v. 12 ; also Chalmers's Lec- 
tures on Romans, Lecture 26 ; and Harris's Man Primeval, p. 178. 



DEATH A GENERIC TERM. 97 

must be regarded as the meaning of the writer here." The 
same may be said of many other passages of "Scripture, 
where the term death is used. 

According to this exposition, the death threatened as the 
penalty of transgression embraces all the evils we suffer in 
this life and in eternity ; among which the dissolution of the 
body is not one of the worst. Indeed, some writers will not 
admit that this was included at all in the penalty. Such, of 
course, find no difficulty in the geological statement that 
literal death preceded man's existence. But from the decla- 
ration in 1 Cor. xv. 22, As in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
shall all be made alive, it seems difficult to avoid the conclu- 
sion, that the death of the body was brought in upon the race 
by Adam's transgression. According to Taylor's view, how- 
ever, we might reasonably suppose that what constituted the 
death threatened to Adam was not the going out of the world, 
but the manner of going, and that, had he continued holy, a 
change of worlds might have taken place, but it would not 
have been death. 

Now, there are some facts, both in experience and revela- 
tion, that give to these views an air of probability. One is, 
the mild character of death in many cases, when attended by 
only a few of the circumstances above enumerated, as con- 
stituting its essence. I believe that experience sustains the 
conclusion already drawn as to the inferior animals, when not 
aggravated by human cruelty. Pain is about the only cir- 
cumstance that gives it the character of severity ; and this is 
usually short, and not anticipated. Nor can it be doubted, as 
a general fact, that, as we descend along the scale of animals, 
we find the sensibility to suffering diminish. But in the hu- 
man family we find examples still more to the point. In all 
those cases in which there is little or no disease, and a man 
9 



98 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

in venerable old age feels the powers of life gradually give 
way, and the functions are feebly performed, until the heart 
at length ceases to beat, and the lungs to heave, death is 
merely the quiet and unconscious termination of the scene, 
so far as the physical nature is concerned. The brain par- 
takes of the gradual decay, and thus the man is scarcely con- 
scious of the failure of his powers, because his sensibilities 
are so blunted ; and therefore, apart from sin, his mind feels 
little of the anguish of dissolution, and he quietly resigns him- 
self into the arms of death, — 

" As sweetly as a child, 
Whom neither thought disturbs, nor care encumbers, 
Tired with long play, at close of summer's day, 
Lies down and slumbers." 

If now, in addition to this physical preparation for his de- 
parture, the man possesses a deep consciousness of forgiven 
sin, and a firm hope of future and eternal joy, this change, 
which we call death, becomes only a joyful translation from 
earth to heaven ; and though the man passes from our view, — 

" He sets, 
As sets the morning star, which goes not down 
Behind the darkened west, nor hides obscured 
Among the tempests of the sky, but melts away 
Into the light of heaven." 

Nay, when such faith and hope form an anchor to the soul, 
.t is not necessary that the physical preparation, which I have 
described, should exist. The poor body may be torn by fierce 
disease, nay, by the infernal cruelties of martyrdom, and yet 
faith can rise — often has risen — over the pains of nature, 
in joyful triumph ; and in the midst of the tempest, with her 



DEATH OF THE WICKED. 99 

anchor fastened to the eternal Rock, she can exclaim, O death, 
where is thy sting I grave, where is thy victory ! Thanks 
be to God, which giveth me the victory through my Lord Jesus 
Christ. Surely such a dissolution as this cannot mean the 
death mentioned in the primeval curse. 

Look now at the contrast. Behold a man writhing in the 
fangs of unrelenting disease, and feeling at the same time the 
scorpion sting of a guilty conscience. His present suffering 
is terrible, but that in prospect is more so ; yet he cannot 
bribe the king of terrors to delay the fatal stroke. 

" The foe, 
Like a stanch, murderer, steady to his purpose, 
Urges the soul through every nook and lane of life." 

It were enough for an unruffled mind to bear the bodily 
anguish of that dying hour. But the unpardoned sins of a 
whole life, and the awful retributions of a whole eternity, come 
crowding into that point of time ; and no human fortitude can 
stand under the crushing load. This, this is emphatically 
death ; the genuine fruit of sin, and therefore in correspond- 
ence with the original threatening. 

If we turn now to the Scriptures, we shall find some pas- 
sages in striking agreement with the opinion that the death 
threatened to man was not the mere dissolution of the body 
and soul ; not a mere going out of the world, but the manner 
of going. 

This is, indeed, made exceedingly probable by the facts 
already stated respecting the translation of Enoch and Elijah, 
and those alive at the coming of Christ. For the sacred writers 
do not call this death, although it be a removal out of the world, 
and a transformation of the natural into the spiritual body. 
Hence, upon the material part of men, the same effects were 



TOO DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

produced as result from ordinary death, and the subsequent 
resurrection. 

If we recur to the original threatening of death as the con- 
sequence of sin, we shall find a peculiarity in the form of 
expression, which our English translators have rendered by 
the phrase thou shalt surely die ; but literally it should be, 
dying thou shalt die. 

This mode of expression is indeed very common in the 
Hebrew language ; but it certainly was meant to indicate an 
intensity in the meaning, as in the phrase blessing I will 
bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee ; that is, I 
will greatly multiply thee. Must it not imply, in the case 
under consideration, at least that the death which would be 
the consequence of transgression, would possess an aggra- 
vated character ? May it not imply as much as Taylor's the- 
ory supposes ? Might it not be intended to teach Adam that, 
when he died, his death should not be simply the dissolution 
of the animal fabric, and the loss of animal life, as he wit- 
nessed it in the inferior creatures around him ; but a change 
far more agonizing, in which the mental suffering should so 
much outweigh the corporeal as to constitute, in fact, its es- 
sence ? I do not assert that this passage has such an extended 
meaning, but I suggest it. And I confess that I do not see 
why its peculiarity of form is understood in our common trans- 
lation to imply certainty rather than intensity. 

There is another part of the threatening that deserves con- 
sideration. It says, that man should not only die, but die the 
very day of the offence. Now, if by death we understood 
merely a removal out of the world, or a separation of soul and 
body, the threatening was not executed after the forbidden 
fruit was tasted. But if it meant also, and chiefly, a state of 
sorrow, pain, and suffering, a liability to disease and fatal 



THE ESSENCE OF DEATH. 101 

accident, the goadings of a guilty conscience, and the conse- 
quent fear of punishment beyond the grave, then death began 
on the very day when man sinned, and the dissolution of the 
soul and body was but the closing scene of the tragedy. 

The beautiful passage in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 
already quoted, where the Christian, in view of death, exult- 
ingly exclaims, O death, where is thy sting ! grave, where 
is thy victory ! will doubtless occur to all who hear me, in this 
connection. Here the sting of death is expressly declared to 
be sin, and that the pardoned Christian obtains the victory over 
it. To him all that renders this king of terrors formidable is 
gone. Its physical sufferings may indeed be left, but these 
are hardly worth naming, when that which constitutes the 
sting of this great enemy — unpardoned guilt — is taken away. 
Little more than his harmless shadow is left. Worlds, indeed, 
are to be exchanged, and so they must have been if Adam 
had never been driven from paradise- The eyes, too, must 
close on beloved friends ; but how soon to open them upon 
the bright glories of heaven ! In short, the strong impression 
of this passage upon the mind is, that the essential thing in 
death is unpardoned sin ; and therefore the death threatened 
to Adam may have been only the terrible aggravations of a 
departure out of this world, which have followed in the train 
of transgression. 

Another striking passage, bearing upon the same point, is 
the declaration of Paul, that Jesus Christ hath abolished death, 
and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 

The apostle does not surely mean that Christians are freed 
from what is commonly called death, since universal experi- 
ence shows that animal life in them is as sure to be extin- 
guished, and the soul to be separated from the body, as in 
others. But so different is death now, since Christ has brought 
9* 



102 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

to light a future and an immortal life, and by the sacrifice of 
himself shown how the heart may be reconciled to God, and 
sin forgiven, and faith inspired, that, in fact, while the shadow 
of death still occupies the passage to eternity, its substance 
is gone. 

That death, which sin introduced, Christ has abolished, be- 
cause, by his sacrifice and his grace, he has conquered sin. 

Upon the whole, though we may not be convinced that 
either of the theories that have been explained is directly 
taught in the Scriptures, or can be shown to be infallibly true, 
yet they are sustained by probable evidence enough to remove 
the apprehension that there is any real discrepancy between 
geology and revelation on the subject of death. Between 
these theories there is but a slight difference. They are in 
fact but modifications of the same general principles ; and I 
say it would be more philosophical to admit the truth of either 
of them, than a disagreement between science and Scripture, 
since the truth of both geology and revelation is sustained by 
such a mass of independent evidence. 

An objection, however, may be stated 'against both of these 
theories, on the ground that they seem to imply that death 
would have existed in the world, irrespective of the sin of 
man, and therefore they lessen our sense of the evil of sin. 

It may be doubted, I think, whether these theories do neces- 
sarily imply that there was no connection between the sin of 
man and the introduction of death into the world. But, ad- 
mitting that they do, is it certain that inadequate views of sin 
are the result ? For poetic effect, we admire the sublime 
sentimentalism of Milton : — 

" Earth, felt the wound ; and Nature, from her seat, 
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe 
That all was lost." 



EFFECTS OF SIN. 103 

But, after all, the deepest impression we get of the evil of 
sin is derived from contemplating its effects upon man, and 
especially the immortal mind. Witness its lofty powers 
bowed down in ignominious servitude to base corporeal appe- 
tites and furious and debasing passions. See how the under- 
standing is darkened, the will perverted, and the heart alienated 
from all that is holy. See reason and conscience dethroned, 
and selfishness reigning in gloomy and undisputed tyranny 
over the immortal mind, while appetite and passion have be- 
come its obsequious panders. See how the affections turn 
away with loathing from God, and what a wall of separation 
has sprung up between man and his Maker ; how deeply and 
universally he has revolted from his rightful sovereign, and 
has chosen other gods to rule over him. Consider, too, what 
havoc has been made in the body, that curious and wonderful 
workmanship of the Almighty ; how the unbridled appetites 
have sown the seeds of disease therein, and how pain, languor, 
and decay assail the constitution as soon as we begin to live, 
and cease not their attacks till they triumph over the citadel 
of life. Consult the history of the world, and what a lazar- 
house and a Golgotha has it been ! What land has not been 
drenched in human blood, poured out in ferocious war! What 
oceans of tears has the thirsty soil drank up ! What breeze 
has ever blown over the land which has not been loaded with 
sighs, and groans, and the story of wrong and oppression, of 
treachery and murder, of suicide and assassination, of blasted 
hopes and despairing hearts ! These, therefore, are the gen- 
uine fruits of sin. This, this is death. And, need I add 
that these are but the precursors of the second death? 

The third theory respecting death takes a more compre- 
hensive view of the subject, and traces its origin to the divine 
plan of the creation. 



104 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

In creating this world, God did not act without a plan pre- 
viously determined upon in all its details. Of course, man's 
character and condition formed prominent items in that plan. 
His apostasy, too, however some would hesitate to regard it 
as predetermined, all will allow to have been foreknown. 
Now, I maintain that God, in the beginning, adapted every 
other being and event in the world to man's character and 
condition, so that there should be entire harmony in its sys- 
tem. And since, either in the divine appointment, or in 
the nature of things, there is an inseparable connection be- 
tween sin and death, the latter must constitute a feature of 
the system of the world, because a free agent would intro- 
duce the former. Death would ultimately exist in the world, 
and, therefore, all creatures placed in such a world must be 
made mortal, at whatever period created. For mortal and 
immortal natures could not exist in the same natural consti- 
tution, nor could a condition adapted to undying creatures be 
changed into a state of decay and death without an entirely 
new creation. Death, therefore, entered into the original 
plan of the world in the divine mind, and was endured by 
the animals and plants that lived anterior to man. Yet, as 
the constitution of the world is, doubtless, very different from 
what it would have been if sin had not existed in it, and as 
man alone was capable of sin, it is proper to regard man's 
transgression as the occasion of all the suffering and death 
that existed on the globe since its creation. 

It will probably be objected to this theory, that it is unjust 
to make animals suffer for man's apostasy, especially before 
it took place. 

I do not see why such suffering is any more unjust before 
than after man's transgression ; and we know that they do 
now suffer in consequence of his sin. But this suffering is 



DEATH OF ANIMALS. 



105 



not to be regarded in the light of punishment ; and if it can 
only be proved that benevolence predominates in the condi- 
tion of animals, notwithstanding their sufferings, divine justice 
and benevolence arc vindicated ; and can there be any doubt 
that such is the fact ? Death is not necessarily an evil to any 
animals. It may be a great blessing, by removing them to 
a higher state of existence. In the case of the inferior ani- 
mals, it is but a small drawback upon the pleasure of life, 
even though they do not exist hereafter. We have endeav- 
ored to show that even the existence of carnivorous races is a 
benevolent provision. That animals are placed in an inferior 
condition, in consequence of man's apostasy, is no more cause 
of complaint than that man is made a little lower than the angels. 

Another objection to these views is, that it makes the effect 
precede the cause ; for it represents the pre-Adamic animals 
as dying in consequence of man's transgression. 

I do not maintain that the death of animals, before or after 
Adam, was the direct and natural consequence of his trans- 
gression. Nay, I am endeavoring to show directly the con- 
trary. But, then, the certainty of man's apostasy might have 
been the grand reason in the divine mind for giving to the 
world its present constitution, and subjecting animals to death. 
Not that God altered his plan upon a prospective knowledge 
that man would sin ; but he made this plan originally, that is 
from eternity, with that event in view, and he made it differ- 
ent from what it would have been, if such an event had not 
been certain. If this be true, then was there a connection 
between man's sin and the death that reigned before his exist 
ence ; though, in strict accuracy of speech, one can hardly 
be called the cause of the other. And yet it was, as I main- 
tain, occasioned by man's sin, and shows the wide-spread 
influence of that occurrence, even more strikingly than the 
ordinary theory of death. 



106 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

A third objection to this theory is, that it represents God as 
putting man in a place of punishment before he had sinned ; 
or, at least, in a state where death was the universal law, and 
where he must die, though he should keep the law of God. 

There are three suppositions, either of which will meet 
this difficulty. 

We may suppose, with Jeremy Taylor, that the death 
threatened to Adam consisted, not in going out of the world, 
but in the manner of going. If he had not sinned, the ex- 
change of worlds would have been without fear or suffering, 
and an object of desire rather than aversion. Christ has not 
secured to the believer the privilege of an earthly immortal- 
ity, but has taken away from a removal out of the world all 
that constitutes death. 

Or we may suppose, with Dr. J. Pye Smith, that, while 
man should continue to keep the divine law, he would be 
secured from that tendency to decay and dissolution, which 
was the common lot of all other creatures, until the time 
should come for his removal, without suffering or dread, to a 
higher state of existence. And that a means of immunity 
from death existed in the garden of Eden we learn from the 
Scriptures. For there stood the tree of life, whose fruit had 
the power to make man live forever, and, therefore, he must 
be banished from the spot where it grew. 

Or, finally, we may suppose that God fitted up for man 
some balmy spot, where neither decay nor death could enter, 
and where every thing was adapted for a being of perfect 
holiness and happiness. His privilege was to dwell there, so 
long as he could preserve his innocence, but no longer. And 
surely this supposition seems to accord with the description 
of the garden of Eden, man's first dwelling-place. There 
every thing seems to have been adapted to his happiness ; 
but sin drove him out among the thorns and thistles, and a 



ADVANTAGES OF THIS THEORY. 107 

cherubim and a flaming sword forbade his return to the tree 
of life. 

Either of these suppositions will meet the difficulty suggest- 
ed by the objection ; or they may all be combined consist- 
ently. Let us now look at some of the advantages of the 
third theory above advanced. 

In the first place, it satisfactorily harmonizes revelation with 
geology, physiology, and experience, on the subject of death. 
It agrees with physiology and experience in representing 
death to be a law of organic being on the globe. Yet it accords 
with revelation, in showing how this law may be a result of 
man's apostasy; and with geology, also, in showing how 
death might have reigned over animals and plants before 
man's existence. To remove so many apparent discrepancies 
is surely a presumption in favor of any theory. 

In the second place, the fundamental principle of this the- 
ory is also a fundamental principle of natural and revealed 
theology, viz., that all events in this world entered originally 
into the plan or purpose of the Deity. To suppose that God 
made the world without a plan previously determined upon, 
is to make him less wise than a human architect, who would 
be charged with great folly to attempt building even a house 
without a plan. And to suppose that plan not to extend to 
every event, is to rob God of his infinite attributes. 

In the third place, this theory falls in with the common 
interpretation of Scripture, which refers the whole system of 
suffering, decay, and death in this world to man's apostasy. 
And although the general reception of any exegesis of Scrip- 
ture does not prove it to be correct, it is certainly gratifying 
when a thorough examination proves the obvious sense of 
a passage to be the true one. For to disturb the popular 
interpretation is, with many, equivalent to a denial of 
Scripture. 



108 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

In the fourth place, this theory shows us the infinite skill 
and benevolence of Jehovah in educing good from evil. 

The free agency of man was an object in the highest de- 
gree desirable. Yet such a character made him liable to 
fall ; and God knew that he would fall. To human sagacity 
that act would seem to seal up his fate forever. But infinite 
wisdom saw that the case was not hopeless. It placed him 
in a state of temporal suffering and temporal death, that he 
might still have a chance of escaping eternal suffering and 
eternal death. The discipline of such a world was eminently 
adapted to restore his lost purity, and death was probably the 
only means by which a fallen being could pass to a higher" 
state of existence. That discipline, indeed, if rightly im- 
proved, would probably fit him for a higher degree of holiness 
and happiness than if he had never sinned ; so as to make 
true the paradoxical sentiment of the poet, — 

" Death gives us more than was in Eden lost." 

Misimproved, this discipline would result in an infinite loss, 
far greater than if man never passed through it. But this is 
all the fault of man ; while all the benefit of a state of pro- 
bation is the result of God's infinite wisdom and benevolence. 

In the fifth place, this theory relieves us from the absurdity 
of supposing that God was compelled to alter the plan of 
creation after man's apostasy. 

The common theory does convey an idea not much differ- 
ent from this. It makes the impression that God was disap- 
pointed when man sinned, and being thereby thwarted in his 
original purpose, he did the best he could by changing his 
plan, just as men do when some unexpected occurrence inter- 
feres with their short-sighted contrivances. Now, such an 
anthropomorphic view of God is inexcusable in the nine- 
teenth century. It was necessary to use such representations 



DID GOD CHANGE HIS PLAN ? 109 

in the early ages of the world, when pure spiritual ideas 
were unknown ; and hence the Bible describes God as repent- 
ing and grieved that he had made man. But with the light 
of the New Testament and of modern science, we ought to 
be able to enucleate the true spiritual idea from such descrip- 
tions. The theory under consideration does not reduce God 
to any after-thought expedients, but makes provision for every 
occurrence in his original plan; and, of course, shows that 
every event takes place as he would have it, when viewed 
in its relations to the great system of the universe. 

In the sixth place, this theory sheds some light upon the 
important question, why God permitted the introduction of 
death into the world. 

It is difficult for some persons to conceive why God, when 
he foresaw Adam's apostasy, did not change his plan of crea- 
tion, and exclude so terrible an evil as death. But according 
to this theory, he permitted it, because it was a necessary 
part of a great system of restoration, by which the human 
race might, if not recreant to their true interests, be restored 
to more than their primeval blessedness. It was not intro- 
duced as a mere punishment, but as a necessary means of 
raising a fallen being into a higher state of life and blessedness ; 
or, if he perversely spurned the offered boon, of sinking him 
down to the deeper wretchedness which is the just conse- 
quence of unrepented sin, without even the sympathy of any 
part of the created universe. 

Finally. This subject throws some light upon that strange 
mixture of good and evil, which exists in the present world. 
We have seen, indeed, that benevolence decidedly predomi- 
nates in all the arrangements of nature ; and we are called 
upon continually to admire the adaptation of external nature 
to the human constitution. A large portion of our sufferings 
10 



110 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 

here may also be imputed to our own sins, or the sins of oth- 
ers ; and these we cannot charge upon God. But, after all, it 
seems difficult to conceive how even a sinless man could escape 
a large amount of suffering here ; enough, indeed, to make 
him often sigh for deliverance and for a better state. How 
many sources of sufferings there are in unhealthy climates, 
mechanieal violence, and chemical agents ; in a sterile soil, 
in the excessive heats of the tropical regions, and extreme 
cold of high latitudes ; in the encroachments and ferocity of 
the inferior animals ; in poisons, mineral, vegetable, and ani- 
mal ; in food unfitted to the digestive and assimilating organs ; 
in the damps and miasms of night ; and in the frequent neces- 
sity for over-exertion of body and mind ! And then, how many 
hinderances to the exercise of the mental powers, in all the 
causes that have been mentioned ! and how does the soul feel 
that she is imprisoned in flesh and blood, and her energies 
cramped, and her vision clouded, by a gross corporeal me- 
dium ! And thus it is, to a great extent, with all nature, 
especially animal nature ; and I cannot but believe, as already 
intimated, that Paul had these very things in mind when he 
said, The whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in 
pain until now, and waiteth for the manifestation of the sons 
of God ; that is, for emancipation from its present depressed 
and fettered condition. In short, while there is so much in 
this world to call forth our admiration and gratitude to God, 
there is enough to make us feel, also, that it is a fallen con- 
dition. It is not such a world as infinite benevolence would 
provide for perfectly holy beings, whom he desired to make 
perfectly happy, but rather such a world as is adapted for a 
condition of trial and preparation for a higher state, when 
both mind and body would be delivered from the fetters that 
now cramp their exercise. 

Now, the theory which I advocate asserts that this peculiar 



THE FIRST ACT OF THE DRAMA. Ill 

condition of the world resulted from the divine determination, 
upon a prospective view of man's transgression. It may, 
therefore, be properly regarded as occasioned by man's trans- 
gression, but not in the common meaning attached to that 
phrase, which is, that, before man's apostasy, the constitution 
of the world was different from what it now is, and death did 
not exist. This theory supposes God to have devised the 
present peculiar mixed condition of the world, as to good and 
evil, in eternity, in order to give man an opportunity to rescue 
himself from the penalty and misery of sin ; and in order to 
introduce those who should do this into a higher state of ex- 
istence. The plan, therefore, is founded in infinite wisdom 
and benevolence, while it brings out man's guilt, and the evil 
of sin, in appalling distinctness and magnitude. 

But, after all, how little idea would a man have of the entire 
plot of a play, who had heard only a part of the first act ! 
How little could he judge of the bearing of the first scene 
upon the final development ! Yet we are now only in the 
first act of the great drama of human existence. Death shows 
us that we shall ere long be introduced into a second act, and 
affords a presumption that other acts — it may be in an end- 
less series — will succeed, before the whole plot shall have 
passed before us ; and not till then can we be certain what 
are all the objects to be accomplished by the introduction of 
sin and death into our world. -And if thus early we can 
catch glimpses of great benefit to result from these evils, what 
full conviction, that infinite benevolence has planned and con- 
summated the whole, will be forced upon the mind, when the 
vast panorama of God's dispensations shall lie spread out in 
the memory ! For that time shall Faith wait, in confident 
hope that all her doubts and darkness shall be converted into 
noonday brightness. 



(112) 



LECTURE IV. 

THE NOACHIAN DELUGE COMPARED WITH THE 
GEOLOGICAL DELUGES. 

The history of opinions respecting the deluge of Noah is 
one of the most curious and instructive in the annals of man. 
In this field, Christians have often broken lances with infidels, 
and also with one another. The unbeliever has confidently 
maintained that the Bible history of the deluge is at war with 
the facts and reasonings of science. Equally confident has 
been the believer that nature bears strong testimony to its oc- 
currence. Some Christians, however, have asserted, with the 
infidel, that no trace remains on the face of nature of such an 
event. And as this is a subject which men are apt to sup- 
pose themselves masters of, when they have only skimmed 
the surface, the contest between these different parties has 
been severe and protracted. Almost every geological change 
which the earth has undergone, from its centre to its circum- 
ference, has, at one time or another, been ascribed to this 
deluge. And so plain has this seemed to those who had only a 
partial view of the facts, that those who doubted it were often 
denounced as enemies of revelation. But most of these opin- 
ions and this dogmatism are now abandoned, because both 
Nature and Scripture are better understood. And among well- 
informed geologists, at least, the opinion is almost universal, 
that there are no facts in their science which can be clearly 
referred to the Noachian deluge ; that is, no traces in nature 



TRADITIONS OF A DELUGE. 113 

of that event ; and on the other hand, that there is nothing 
in the Mosaic account of the deluge which would necessarily- 
lead us to expect permanent marks of such a catastrophe 
within or upon the earth. 

If such be the case, you will doubtless inquire, what con- 
nection there is between geology and the revealed history of 
the deluge, and why the subject should be introduced into this 
series of lectures. I reply, that so recently have correct 
views been entertained on this subject, and so little understood 
are they, that they need to be defined and explained. And 
if the distribution of animals and plants on the globe come 
within the province of geology, then this science has a very 
important point of connection with the history of the deluge, 
as will appear in the sequel. And finally, the history of opin- 
ions on this subject is full of instruction to those who under- 
take to reason on the connection between science and religion. 
Obviously, then, my first object should be to give a brief his- 
tory of the views that have been entertained respecting the 
deluge of Noah, so far as they have been supposed to have 
any connection with geology. 

[t is well known, that in the written and unwritten tradi- 
tions of almost every nation and tribe under heaven, the story 
of a general deluge has been prominent ; and probably, in all 
these cases, some attempt has been made to explain the man- 
ner in which the waters were brought over the land. But 
most of these reasonings, especially in ancient times, are too 
absurd to deserve even to be recited. Indeed, it is not till the 
beginning of the sixteenth century, that we find any discus- 
sions on the subject worthy of notice. At that time, some 
excavations at Verona, in Italy, brought to light many fossil 
shells, and awakened a question as to their origin. Some 
maintained that they were only simulacra, or resemblances 
10* 



114 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPAP'^D. 

to animals, but never had a real existence. They were sup- 
posed to have been produced by a certain " materia pinguis" 
or " fatty matter," existing in the earth. Others maintained 
that they were deposited by the deluge of Noah. Such, in- 
deed, was the general opinion ; but Fracastoro and a few 
others maintained that they were once real animals, and could 
not have been brought into their present condition by the last 
deluge. For more than three hundred years have these ques- 
tions been more or less discussed ; and though decided many 
years ago by all geologists, not a few intelligent men still 
maintain, that petrified shells are mere abortive resemblances 
of real beings, or that they were deposited by the deluge. 

The advocates of the diluvial origin of petrifactions soon 
found themselves hard pressed with the question, how these 
relics could be scattered through strata many thousand feet 
thick, by one transient flood. They, therefore, came to the con- 
clusion, in the words of Woodward, a distinguished cosmogo- 
nist of the eighteenth century, that the " whole terrestrial globe 
was taken to pieces and dissolved at the flood, and the strata 
settled down from this promiscuous mass, as any earthy sedi- 
ment from a fluid." During that century, many works ap- 
peared upon cosmogony, defending similar views, by such 
men as Burnet, Scheuchzer, and Catcott. Some of these 
works exhibited no little ability, mixed, however, with hypoth- 
eses so extravagant that they have ever since been the butt 
of ridicule. The very title of Burnet's work cannot but pro- 
voke a smile. It is called " The Sacred Theory of the Earth, 
containing an Account of the Original of the Earth, and of all 
the general Changes it hath already undergone, or is to undergo, 
till the Consummation of all Things." He maintained that the 
primitive earth was only " an orbicular crust, smooth, regular, 
and uniform, without mountains and without a sea." This crust 



catcott's exposition. 115 

rested on the surface of a watery abyss, and, being heated by 
the sun, became chinky ; and in consequence of the rarefac- 
tion of the included vapors, it burst asunder, and fell down 
into the waters, and so was comminuted and dissolved, while 
the inhabitants perished. Catcott's work was confined exclu- 
sively to the deluge, and exhibited a good deal of ability. He 
endeavored to show, that this dissolution of the earth by the 
deluge was taught in the Scriptures, and his reasoning on that 
point is a fine example of the state of biblical interpretation 
in his day. " As there are other texts," says he, " which 
mention the dissolution of the earth, it may be proper to cite 
them. Ps. xlvi. 2. God is our refuge ; therefore will ice not 
fear though the earth be removed, [be changed, be quite al- 
tered, as it was at the deluge.] God uttered his voice, the earth 
melted, [flowed, dissolved to atoms.] Again, Job xxviii. 9. 
He sent his hand [the expansion, his instrument, or the agent 
by which he worked] against the rock, he overturned the 
mountains by the roots, he caused the rivers to burst forth from 
between the rocks, [or broke open the fountains of the abyss.] 
His eye [symbolically placed for light] saw [passed through, 
or between] every minute thing, [every atom, and so dis- 
solved the whole.] He [at last] bound up the waters from 
weeping, [i. e. from pressing through the shell of the earth, as 
tears make their way through the orb of the eye ; or, as it is 
related, (Gen. viii. 2,) He stopped the fountains of the abyss 
and the windows of heaven ,] and brought out the light from 
its hiding-place, [i. e., from the inward parts of the earth, from 
between every atom where it lay hid, and kept each atom 
separate from the other, and so the whole in a state of disso- 
lution ; his bringing out those parts of the light which caused 
the dissolution would of course permit the agents to act in 
their usual way, and so reform the earth.' 1 ] — Treatise on the 
Deluge, p. 43, (London, 1761.) 



116 NOACIIIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

We can hardly believe at the present day, that a logical 
and scientific mind, like that of Catcott, could satisfy itself, by 
such a dreamy exegesis, that the Scriptures teach the earth's 
dissolution at the deluge ; especially when they so distinctly de- 
scribe the waters of the deluge, as first rising over the land, and 
then sinking back to their original position. Still more strange 
is it how Burnet could have thought it consistent with Scripture 
to suppose the earth, before the flood, " to have been covered 
with an orbicular crust, smooth, regular, and uniform, without 
mountains and without a sea," when the Bible so distinctly 
states, as the work of the third day, that the waters under the 
heavens were gathered together unto one place, and the dry 
land appeared ; and that God called the dry land earth, and 
the gathering together of the waters he called seas ; and fur- 
ther, that, by the deluge, all the high hills were covered. Yet 
these men doubtless supposed that, by the views which they 
advocated, they were defending the Holy Scriptures. Nay, 
their views were long regarded as exclusively the orthodox 
views, and opposition to them was considered, for one or two 
centuries, as virtual opposition to the Bible. Truly, this, in 
biblical interpretation, was straining at a gnat and swallowing 
a camel. 

It is quite convenient to explain such anomalies in human 
belief, by referring them to the spirit of the age, or to the 
want of the light of modern science. But in the present case, 
we cannot thus easily dispose of the difficulty. For in our 
own day, we have seen these same absurdities of opinion 
maintained by a really scientific man, selected to write one 
of the Bridge water Treatises, as one of the most learned men 
in Great Britain. I refer to Eev. William Kirby, evidently a 
thorough entomologist and a sincere Christian. But he adopts 
the opinion, not only that there exists a subterranean abyss of 



HUTCHINSONIANISM. 117 

waters, but a subterranean metropolis of animals, where the 
huge leviathians, the gigantic saurians, dug out of the rocks 
by the geologist, still survive ; and this he endeavors to prove 
from the Bible. For this purpose he quotes the passage in 
Psalms, though thou hast sore broken us in the place of 
dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. His ex- 
position of this text is much in the style of that already given 
from Catcott. Following that writer and Hutchinson, he en- 
deavors to show, by a still more fanciful interpretation, that 
the phrase " windows of heaven," in Genesis, means cracks 
and volcanic rents in the earth, through which air and water 
rushed inwardly and outwardly with such violence as to tear 
the crust to pieces. This was the effect of the increasing 
waters of the deluge ; the bringing together of these commi- 
nuted particles, so as to form the present strata, was the work 
of the subsiding waters. 

These views will seem very strange to those not familiar 
with the history of geology. But we shall find their origin, 
if a few facts be stated respecting what has been called the 
physico-theological school of writers, that originated with one 
Hutchinson, in the beginning of the eighteenth century. He 
was a disciple of the distinguished cosmogonist Woodward. 
But he attacked the views of his master, as well as those of 
Sir Isaac Newton on gravitation, in a work which he pub- 
lished in twelve octavo volumes* entitled " Moseses Prin- 
cipiay He there maintains that the Scriptures, when rightly 
understood, contain a complete system of natural philosophy. 

This dogma, advocated by Hutchinson with the most intol- 
erant spirit, constitutes the leading peculiarity of the physico- 
theological school, and has been very widely adopted, and 
has exerted a most pernicious influence both upon religion 
and upon science. It is painful, therefore, to find so learned 



118 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

and excellent a man as Mr. Kirby so deeply imbued with it, 
so long after its absurdity has been shown again and again. 
It is devoutly to be wished that the cabalistic dreams of 
Hutchinsonianism are not to be extensively revived in our 
day. And, indeed, such is the advanced state of her- 
meneutical knowledge, that we have little reason to fear it. 
Nevertheless, its leaven is yet by no means thoroughly purged 
out from the literary community. 

It was one of the settled principles of the physico-theologi- 
cal school, that, since the creation, the earth has undergone 
no important change beneath the surface, except at the del- 
uge, because it was supposed that the Bible mentions no other 
event that could produce any important change. Hence all 
marks of changes in the rocks since their original creation 
must be referred to the deluge. And especially when it was 
found that most of the petrifactions in the rocks were of 
marine origin, not only were they supposed to be the result 
of the deluge, but a most conclusive proof of that event. 
And this opinion is even yet very widely received by the 
Christian world. The argument in its favor, when stated in 
a popular manner to those not familiar with geology, is indeed 
quite imposing. For if the land, almost every where, even 
to the tops of some of its highest mountains, abounds in sea 
shells, this is just what we should expect, if the sea flowed over 
those mountains at the deluge. But the moment we come to 
examine the details respecting marine petrifactions, we see 
that nothing can be more absurd than to suppose them the 
result of a transient deluge. Yet this view is maintained in 
nearly all the popular commentaries of the present day upon 
Genesis, and in many respectable periodicals. It is taught, 
therefore, in the Sabbath school and in the family ; and the 
child, as he grows up, is shocked to find the geologist assailing 



THE THySlCO-TIlEOLOGlCAL SCHOOL. 119 

it ; and when he finds it false, he is in danger of becoming 
jealous of the other evidences of Christianity which he has 
been taught. 

Another branch of the modern physico- theological school, 
embracing men who have read too much on the subject of 
geology to be able to believe in the dissolution of the globe 
by the deluge, have adopted a more plausible hypothesis. They 
suppose that between the creation and the deluge, or in six- 
teen hundred and fifty-six years, according to the received 
chronology, all the present fossiliferous rocks of our conti- 
nents, more than six miles in thickness, were deposited at the 
bottom of the ocean. By that event, they were raised from 
beneath the waters, and the continents previously existing 
sunk down and disappeared ; so that the land now inhabited 
was formerly the ocean's bed. To prove that such a change 
took place at the deluge, Granville Penn and Fairholme quote 
the declaration of God, in Genesis, respecting the flood — 
I will destroy them, (i. e., men,) and the earth, or with the 
earth; also the statement of Peter — The world that then 
was, being overflowed with water, perished. The terms earth 
and world may mean either the solid globe, or the animals 
and plants upon it. If in these passages they have the latter 
meaning, then they simply teach that the deluge destroyed 
the natural life of organic beings. If they have the former 
meaning, then the inquiry arises,' What are we to understand 
by the destruction here described ? It may mean annihila- 
tion, or it may imply ruin in some respects. That annihila- 
tion did not result from the deluge is evident from the case 
of men, who suffered only temporal death, and even this was 
not universal ; and we know, also, that the matter of the 
earth did not perish. We must resort, therefore, to the 
sacred history to learn how far the destruction extended. 



120 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

That history seems very plain. There was a rain of forty 
days, and the fountains of the great deep were broken up ; 
that is, as Professor Stuart happily expresses it, " The ocean 
overflowed while the rain descended in vast quantities." The 
waters gradually rose over the dry land, and after a hundred 
and fifty days, began to subside, and at the end of a year and 
a few days they were gone. Such an overflowing could not 
take place without producing the almost entire destruction 
of organic life, and making extensive havoc with the soil, 
especially as a wind assisted in driving these waters from the 
land. But there is nothing in the narrative that would lead 
us to suppose either a comminution or dissolution of the 
earth, or the elevation of the ocean's bed. The same land 
which was overflowed is described as again emerging. In- 
deed, a part of the rivers proceeding out of the garden of 
Eden are the same as those now existing on the globe. We 
must then admit that our present continents, — certainly the 
Asiatic, — are the same as the antediluvian, or deny that the 
account of Eden, in Genesis, is a part of the Bible. The 
latter alternative is preferred by Penn and Fairholme. 
Surely such men ought to be cautious how they censure 
geologists for modifying the meaning of some verses in Gen- 
esis, when they thus, without any evidence of its spurious- 
ness, unceremoniously erase so important a passage. 

I might add to all this that the facts of geology forbid the 
idea that our present continents formed the bed of the ocean 
at so recent a date as that of Noah's deluge, and that the sup- 
position that all organic remains were deposited during the 
two thousand years between the six days' work and the del- 
uge is totally irreconcilable with all correct philosophy. 
Why, during the time when the fossiliferous rocks were in a 
course of formation, four or five entirely distinct races of 



SUPPOSED TRACES OF IMOAh's DELUGE. 121 

animals and plants successively occupied the land and the 
waters, and passed away in regular order ; and these races 
were so unlike, that they could not have been contemporane- 
ous. Who will maintain that all this took place in the short 
period of two thousand years ? I am sure that no geologist 
will. 

But modern geologists have, until recently, supposed that 
the traces of Noah's deluge might still be seen upon the 
earth's surface. I say its surface ; for none of them imagined 
those effects could have reached to a great depth. Over a 
large part of the northern hemisphere they found extensive 
accumulations of gravel and bowlders, which had been re- 
moved often a great distance from their parent rocks, while the 
ledges beneath were smoothed and striated, obviously by the 
grating over them of these piles of detritus. How very nat- 
ural to refer these effects to the agency of currents of water ; 
just such currents as might have resulted from a universal 
deluge. But the inference was a hasty one. For when geol- 
ogists came to study the phenomena of drift or diluvium, as 
these accumulations of travelled matter are called, they found 
that currents of water alone would not explain them all. 
Some other agency must have been concerned ; and the gen- 
eral opinion now is, that drift has been the result of the joint 
action of water and ice ; and nearly all geologists suppose 
that this action took place before man's existence on the 
globe. Some suppose it to have been the result of oceanic 
currents, while yet our continents were beneath the waters ; 
others think that the northern ocean may have been thrown 
southerly over the dry land by the elevation of its bed ; and 
others maintain that vast masses of ice may formerly have en- 
circled high latitudes, whose glaciers, melting away, may have 
driven towards the equator the great quantities of drift and 
11 



122 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

bowlders which have been carried in that direction. In short, 
it is now found that this is one of the most difficult problems 
in geology ; and while most geologists agree that both ice and 
water have been concerned in producing the phenomena, the 
time and manner of their action are not yet very satisfactorily 
determined. They may have acted at different periods and 
in divers manners ; but all the phenomena could not have 
been the result of one transient deluge. 

From the facts that have now been detailed, it appears that 
on no subject of science connected with religion have men 
been more positive and dogmatical than in respect to Noah's 
deluge, and that on no subject has there been greater change 
of opinion. From a belief in the complete destruction and 
dissolution of the globe by that event, those best qualified to 
judge now doubt whether it be possible to identify one mark 
of that event in nature. 

I shall now proceed to state, in a more definite form, the 
views of this subject entertained by the most enlightened 
judges of its merits at the present day. 

In the first place, most of the cases of accumulations of 
drift, the dispersion of oowlders, and the polish and stria, 
upon rocks in place, occurred previous to marts existence 
upon the globe, and cannot have been the result of Noah's 
deluge. 

From the arguments for sustaining this position I shall 
select only a part. 

The first is, that the organic remains found in the alluvium 
considerably above the drift, which always lies below the 
alluvium, are many of them of extinct species. Whether 
the genuine drift — a heterogeneous mass of fragments, 
driven pellmell together — contains any organic relics, is to 
me very doubtful. But if the stratified deposits subsequent 



DRIFT AND NOAIl's DELUGE. 123 

to the drift present us with beings no longer alive on the 
globe, much more would the drift. Now, the presumption is, 
that extinct animals and plants belong to a creation anterior 
to man, especially if they exhibit a tropica! characlcr, — as 
those, do which are usually assigned to the drift, — since we 
have no evidence of a tropical climate in northern latitudes 
till we get back to a period far anterior to man. 

Secondly. No remains of man or his works have been found 
in drift, nor indeed till we rise almost to the top of the allu- 
vial deposit. Even ancient Armenia has now been examined 
geologically, with sufficient care to make it almost certain 
that human remains do not exist there in drift, if drift is 
found there at all ; of which there may be a question. 

Thirdly. The agency producing drift must have operated 
during a vastly longer period than the three hundred and 
eighty days of Noah's deluge. It would be easy to show to 
a geologist that the extensive erosions which are referrible to 
that agency, and the huge masses of detritus which have 
been the result, must have demanded centuries, and even 
decades of years. Nor will any supposed increase of power 
in the agency explain the results, without admitting a long 
period for their action. 

Fourthly. Water appears to have been the principal agent 
in the Noachian deluge ; but in the production of drift, ice 
was at least equally concerned. 

Finally. The phenomena of deltas, terraces, and ancient 
sea-beaches, make the period of the drift immensely more 
remote than the deluge of Noah, since these phenomena are 
all posterior to the drift period. I need not go into the details 
of this argument here, since I have drawn them out in my 
second lecture. But of all the arguments ever adduced to 
prove the great length of time occupied in geological changes, 



124 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

this — which, so far as the terraces are concerned, has never 
before, 1 believe, been adduced — seems to me the most con- 
vincing to those who carefully examine the subject. 

We may be sure, then, that the commencement of the drift 
period, and the deluge of Noah, cannot have been synchro- 
nous. But the drift agency, connected, as nearly all geologists 
seem now to be ready to admit, with the vertical movements 
of continents, may have operated, and undoubtedly has, at 
various periods, and veiy possibly, in some parts of the world, 
long posterior to the period usually called the drift period. I 
agree, therefore, in opinion with one of the most eminent 
and judicious of the European geologists, Professor Sedgwick, 
of Cambridge, when he says, " If we have the clearest proofs 
of great oscillations of sea level, and have a right to make use 
of them, while we seek to explain some of the latest phenom- 
ena of geology, may we not reasonably suppose, that, within 
the period of human history, similar oscillations have taken 
place in those parts of Asia which were the cradle of our 
race, and may have produced that destruction among the 
early families of men, which is described in our sacred books, 
and of which so many traditions have been brought down to 
us through all the streams of authentic history ? " — Geology 
of the Lake District, p. 14. 

Secondly. Admitting the deluge to have been universal over 
the globe, it could not have deposited the fossil remains in the 
rocks. 

This position is too plain to the practical geologist to need 
a formal argument to sustain it. But there are many intelli- 
gent men, who do not see clearly why the remains of marine 
animals and plants may not be referred to the deluge. And 
if they could be, then all the demands of the geologist for 
long periods anterior to man are without foundation. But they 
cannot be, for the following reasons : — 



FOSSIL REMAINS AND Till-: DELUGE. 125 

First. On tliis supposition the organic remains ought to be 
confusedly mingled together, since they must have been 
brought over the land promiscuously by the waters of the 
deluge ; but they are in fact arranged in as much order as 
the specimens of a well-regulated cabinet. The different 
rocks that lie above one another do, indeed, contain some 
species that are common ; but the most are peculiar. It is 
impossible to explain such a fact if they were deposited by 
the deluge. 

Secondly. On this theory, at least, a part of the organic 
remains ought to correspond with living animals and plants, 
since the deluge took place so long after the six days of cre- 
ation. But with the exception of a few species near the top 
of the series, the fossil species are wholly unlike those now 
alive. 

Thirdly. How, by this theory, can we explain the fact, that 
there are found in the rocks at least five distinct races of ani- 
mals and plants, so unlike that they could not have been con- 
temporaries ? or for the fact, that most of them are of a 
highly tropical character ? or for the fact, that as we rise higher 
in the rocks, there is a nearer and nearer approach to existing 
species ? 

Fourthly. This theory requires us to admit, that in three 
hundred and eighty days the waters of the deluge deposited 
rocks at least six miles in thickness, over half or two thirds of 
our existing continents ; and these rocks made up of hundreds 
of thick beds, exceedingly unlike one another in composition 
and organic contents. Will any reasonable man believe this 
possible without a miracle ? 

But I need not multiply arguments on this point. It is a 
theory which no reasonable man can long maintain after study- 
ing the subject. And if it be indeed true, that neither in the 
11* 



126 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

drift, nor in the fossiliferous rocks, can we discover any traces 
of the deluge, then we shall find them nowhere on the 
globe. But 

Thirdly. There are no facts in geology that afford any 
presumption against the occurrence of the Noachian deluge, 
but rather the contrary. 

The geologist says only, that if any traces of it exist, he 
cannot distinguish them from the effects of other analogous 
agencies that have operated on the globe at various periods. 
Some parts of the globe do not exhibit marks of any powerful 
aqueous action, such as high northern and southern latitudes 
do exhibit. But the sacred record, in its account of the access 
and subsidence of diluvial waters, does not require us to sup- 
pose any great degree of violence in their action on the sur- 
face ; and although currents somewhat powerful must have 
been the result, yet they may not have existed every where, 
nor have always left traces of their passage where they did 
exist. On the other hand, the geologist will admit, as we 
have already seen, that in the elevation and subsidence of 
mountains and continents, and in volcanic agency generally, 
of which geology contains so many examples, we have an 
adequate cause for extensive, if not universal, deluges ; nor 
can he say how recently this cause may have operated be- 
neath certain oceans, sufficiently to produce the deluge of the 
Scriptures. So that, in fact, we have in geology a presump- 
tion in favor of, rather than against, such a deluge. Nay, 
some, who have examined Armenia, have thought they found 
there a deposit which could be referred to the deluge of Noah ; 
but 1 have no access to any facts on this point. 

Fourthly. There are reasons, both in natural history and 
in the Scriptures, for supposing that the deluge may not have 
been universal over the globe, but only over the region inhab- 
ited by man. 



WAS THE DELUGE UNIVERSAL ? 127 

This is a position of no small importance, and will, there- 
fore, require our careful examination. And in the beginning, 
I wish to premise, that I assume the deluge to have been 
brought about by natural operations, or in conformity with 
the laws of nature. I feel no reluctance in admitting it to 
have been strictly miraculous, provided the narrative will al- 
low of such a conclusion. But if it was miraculous, then we 
must give up the idea of philosophizing about it, and believe 
the facts simply on the divine testimony. For how can we 
philosophize upon an event that is brought about by the direct 
efficiency of God, and without reference to existing natural 
laws, and, it may be, in contravention of them, unless, indeed, 
the history contains such contradictions as even infinite power 
and wisdom could not make harmonious ? Some writers en- 
deavor to show the conformity of the sacred history of the 
deluge to established natural laws, until they meet with some 
objection too strong to be answered, when they turn round 
and declare the whole occurrence to have been miraculous. 
This I conceive to be absurd, and I shall accordingly proceed 
on the supposition that the whole event was a penal infliction, 
brought about by natural law 7 s ; or, at least, if there was any 
thing miraculous, it consisted in giving greater power to nat- 
ural operations, without interfering with the regular sequence 
of cause and effect. And does not the narrative leave the im- 
pression on the mind of the reader, that it was brought about 
by natural means ? The sacred writer distinctly assigns two 
natural causes of the increase of the waters, viz., a rain of 
forty days and the breaking up of the fountains of the great 
deep, which doubtless means an overflow of the ocean ; and, 
to hasten the subsidence of the waters, it is said that God 
made a wind to blow over the surface. It is no proof of mi- 
raculous agency, that the whole work is referred to the imme- 



128 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

diate power of God, for it is well known that this is the usual 
mode in which the sacred writers speak of natural events. 

The first difficulty in the way of supposing the flood to 
have been literally universal, is the great quantity of water 
that would have been requisite. 

The amount necessary to cover the earth to the tops of the 
highest mountains, or about five miles above the present 
oceans, would be eight times greater than that existing on the 
globe at this time. From whence could this immense volume 
of water have been derived ? A great deal of ingenuity has 
been devoted to give an answer to this inquiry. By some it 
has been supposed, that most of the earth's interior is occu- 
pied by water, and the theorist had only to devise means for 
forcing it to the surface. One does this by the forcible com- 
pression of the crust ; another, by the expansive power of 
internal heat ; another, by the generation of various gases 
through galvanic action. Others have maintained that the 
antediluvian continents were sunk beneath the ocean at that 
time, though such find it hard to tell us why there was a rain 
of forty days upon land that was ready to subside beneath the 
ocean. Others have resort to a comet's impinging against 
the earth, and throwing the waters of the ocean over the land. 
But they were not aware that comets are mere vapor. Others 
suppose (and surely theirs is the most plausible theory) that 
the elevation of the bed of some ocean, by volcanic agency, 
threw its waters over the adjoining continents, and the mighty 
wave thus produced would not stop till it had swept over all 
other continents and islands. But in this case, it is evident 
that the continent first overflowed must have been left dry 
before the wave had reached other continents, so that, in fact, 
all parts of the earth would not have been enveloped simulta- 
neously ; and besides, how unlike such a violent rushing of 



CAPACITY OF TTIE ATCIC. 129 

the waters over the land is the scriptural account ! In short, 
so unsatisfactory have been most of the theories to account 
for the water requisite to produce a universal deluge, that most 
writers have resorted, in the end, to miraculous agency to ob- 
tain it. And that, in fact, is the most satisfactory mode of get- 
ting over this difficulty, if the Scriptures unequivocally teach 
the universality of the deluge. 

A second objection to such a universality is, the difficulty 
of providing for the animals in the ark. 

Calculations have indeed been made, which seemed to show 
that the ark was capacious enough to hold the pairs and sep- 
tuples of all the species. But, unfortunately, the number of 
species assumed to exist by the calculators was vastly below 
the truth. It amounted only to three or four hundred ; 
whereas the actual number already described by zoologists 
is not less than one hundred and fifty thousand ; and the prob- 
able number existing on the globe is not less than half a mil- 
lion. And for the greater part of these must provision have 
been made, since most of them inhabit either the air or the 
dry land. A thousand species of mammalia, six thousand 
species of birds, two thousand species of reptiles, and one 
hundred and twenty thousand species of insects are already 
described, and must have been provided with space and food. 
Will any one believe this possible, in a vessel not more than 
four hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet broad, and 
forty- five feet high ? 

The third and most important objection to this universality 
of the deluge is derived from the facts brought to light by 
modern science, respecting the distribution of animals and 
plants on the globe. 

It was the opinion of Linnaeus that all animals and plants 
had their commencement in a particular region of the earth, 



130 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

from whence they migrated into all other parts of its surface. 
And had no new facts come to light since his day, to change 
the aspect of the subject, one would hesitate long before adopt- 
ing views opposed to so distinguished a naturalist. But new 
facts, in vast numbers, have been multiplying ever since his 
day, and zoologists and botanists now almost universally adopt 
the opinion, early promulgated by Dr. Prichard, in his admi- 
rable work on the Physical History of Man, that there must 
have been several centres of creation, from which the ani- 
mals and plants radiated only so far as the climate and food 
were adapted to their natures, except a few species endowed 
with the power of accommodating themselves to all climates. 
Certain it is that they are now thus distributed ; and it is 
inevitable death for most species to venture beyond certain 
limits. If tropical animals and plants, for instance, were to 
migrate to the temperate zones, and especially to the frigid 
regions, they could not long survive ; and almost equally fatal 
would it be for the animals and plants of high latitudes to take 
up their abode near the equator. But even within the tropics 
we find distinct species of animals and plants on opposite con- 
tinents. Indeed, naturalists reckon a large number of botan- 
ical and zoological districts, or provinces, as they are called, 
within which they find certain peculiar groups of animals and 
plants, with natures exactly adapted to that particular district, 
but incapable of enduring the different climate of adjoining 
districts. They differ considerably as to the number of these 
districts, because the plants and animals of our globe are by 
no means yet fully described, and because the districts assigned 
to the different classes do not fully coincide ; but as to the ex- 
istence of such a distribution, they are of one opinion. The 
most reliable divisions of this kind make twenty-five botanical 



DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. 131 

provinces, and five kingdoms and fourteen provinces among 
animals.* 

The fact that man, and some of the domesticated animals, 
and a few plants, are found in almost every climate, has, until 
recently, blinded the eyes of naturalists to the manner in 
which the great mass of animals and plants are confined within 
certain prescribed limits. But so soon as the general fact is 
stated, we immediately recur to abundant proof of its truth. 
We should be disposed to question the veracity of that trav- 
eller who should visit a new and remote country, and describe 
its vegetable and animal productions as essentially the same 
as in our own ; and all because the analogy of other portions 
of the globe leads us to expect that a new geographical prov- 
ince shall present us with a peculiar fauna and jlora ; that is, 
with peculiar groups of animals and plants. 

It is obvious that the facts which have been stated have an 
important bearing upon the mode in which the animals were 
brought together to enter the ark, and were afterwards dis- 
tributed through the earth, if the deluge were universal. Cer- 
tain it is that, without miraculous preservation, they could 
never have been brought together, nor again dispersed. We 
have reason to suppose that the ark was constructed in some 
part of the temperate zone. Now, suppose the animals of 
the torrid zone at the present day to attempt, by natural means, 
to reach the temperate zone ; who does not know that nearly 
all of them must perish ? Nor is it any easier to conceive 
how, after the flood, they could have migrated into all conti- 
nents, and islands, and climates, and how each species should 
have found the place exactly fitted to its constitution, as we 
now find them. Indeed, the idea of their collection and 

* Johnston's Physical Atlas, pp. 66, 76, (Philadelphia edition, 1850.) 



132 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

dispersion in a natural way is altogether too absurd to be 
believed. And we must, therefore, resort to a miracle, or 
suppose a new creation to have taken place after the deluge, 
or admit the flood to have been limited. If the latter suppo- 
sition be not inconsistent with the Bible, it completely relieves 
the difficulty. If we suppose the limited region of Central 
Asia, where man existed, to have been deluged, and pairs 
and septuples of the most common animals in that region only 
to have been kept alive in the ark, the entire account will 
harmonize with natural history. The question, then, whether 
such a view is consistent with the Bible, becomes of great 
interest ; and to this point I beg leave next to direct your 
attention. 

If we understand the scriptural account to denote a literal 
universality, it is certainly very natural to inquire why such 
universality was necessary, since the deluge is represented as 
a penal infliction upon man. For it seems difficult to believe 
as some writers have attempted to prove, that the human fam- 
ily had become very numerous, or had extended far beyond 
the spot where they were first planted, in less than two thou- 
sand years ; especially when we recollect how few were the 
children of patriarchs whose age amounted to many centu- 
ries, and how very probable it is that the extreme wickedness 
of most of the antediluvians tended to their extinction rather 
than their multiplication. Why, then, for the sake of destroy- 
ing man, occupying probably only a limited portion of one 
continent, was it necessary to depopulate all other continents 
and islands, inhabited only by irresponsible animals, who had 
no connection with man? If the Scriptures unequivocally 
declare that such was the fact, we are bound to believe it on 
divine testimony. But if their language admits of a different 
interpretation, it seems reasonable to adopt it. 



WAS THE DELUGE UNIVERSAL ? 133 

And here I am willing to acknowledge that the language 
of the Bible on this subject seems, at first view, to teach the 
universality of the flood, unequivocally. The waters, say 
they, prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high 
hills that were under the whole heaven were covered. Again : 
Behold, I, even I, do bring a Jlood of waters upon the earth 
to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under 
heaven ; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. If 
such language be interpreted by the same rules which we 
should apply to a modern composition, it could in no way be 
understood to teach a limited deluge or a partial destruction. 
But in respect to this ancient record, two considerations are to 
be carefully weighed. 

In the first place, the terms employed are not to be judged 
of by the state of knowledge in the nineteenth century, but 
by its state among the people to whom this revelation was 
first addressed. When the earth was spoken of to that peo- 
ple, (the ancient Jews,) they could not have understood it to 
embrace a much wider region than that inhabited by man, 
because they could not have had any idea of what lay beyond 
those limits. And so of the phrase heaven ; it must have 
been coextensive with the inhabited earth only. And when 
it was said that all animals would die by the deluge, they 
could not have supposed the declaration to embrace creatures 
far beyond the dwellings of men, because they knew nothing 
of such regions. Why, then, may we not attach the same 
limited meaning to these declarations ? Why should we sup- 
pose that the Holy Spirit used terms, adapted, indeed, to the 
astronomy and geography of the nineteenth century, but con- 
veying only a false idea to those to whom they were ad- 
dressed ? 

In the second place, in all ages and nations, and especially 
12 



134 KOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

among ancient ones, " universal terms are often used to sig- 
nify only a very large amount in number or quantity." — 
Dr. Smith, Scrip, and Geol. p. 212, 4th ed. — The Hebrew 
bS, (kol,) the Greek nag, and the English all, are alike em- 
ployed in this manner, to signify many. There are some very 
striking cases of this sort in the Bible. Thus in Genesis it is 
said that all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy com, 
because the famine was sore in all lands. This certainly could 
apply only to the well-known countries around Egypt ; for 
transportation would have been impossible to the remotest 
parts of the habitable globe. In the account of the plagues 
that came upon Egypt, it is said that the hail smote every 
herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field ; but, in a 
few days afterwards, it is said of the locusts that they did eat 
every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which 
the hail had left. This day, said God to the Israelites, while 
yet in their journey ings, will I begin to put the fear of thee 
and the dread of thee upon the face of the nations under all 
the heavens. But it is obvious that only the nations contigu- 
ous to the Israelites, chiefly the Canaanites, are here meant. 
In the New Testament, it is said that, at the time of the pen- 
tecost, there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, 
out of every nation under heaven. Yet, in the enumeration, 
which follows this passage, of the different places from which 
those Jews had come, we find only a region extending from 
Italy to Persia, and from Egypt to the Black Sea. It could 
have been a district of only about that size which Paul meant, 
when he said to the Colossians that the gospel was preached 
to every creature which is under heaven. In the First Book of 
Kings, it is said that all the earth sought the presence of Solo- 
mon, to hear his wisdom ; — a passage which requires as much 
limitation as the others above quoted. A similar mode of 



UNIVERSAL TEEMS. 135 

expression is employed by Christ, when he says of the queen 
of Sheba that she came from ike uttermost parts of the earth 
to hear the wisdom of Solomon ; for her residence, being 
probably on the Arabian Gulf, could not have been more than 
twelve or fourteen hundred miles from Jerusalem. A like 
figurative mode of speech is employed in the description of 
Peter's vision, in which he saw a great sheet let down to the 
earth, wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the 
earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the 
air. Who will suppose, since it is wholly unnecessary for 
the object, which was to convince Peter that the Mosaic dis- 
tinction into clean and unclean beasts was abolished, that he 
here had a vision of all the species of terrestrial vertebral 
animals on the globe ? 

It would be easy to multiply similar passages. In many 
of them we should find that the phrase all the earth signifies the 
land of Palestine ; in a few, the Chaldean empire ; and in one, 
that of Alexander of Macedon. 

Now, so similar is the phraseology of the passages just 
quoted to that descriptive of the deluge, so universal are the 
terms, while we are sure that their meaning must be limited, 
that we are abundantly justified in considering the deluge as 
limited, if other parts of the Bible, or the facts of natural his- 
tory, require such a limitation. Indeed, so obviously analo- 
gous are the passages quoted to the Mosaic account of the del- 
uge, that distinguished writers have regarded the deluge as 
limited, long before geology existed, or natural history had 
learned the manner in which organic life is distributed on the 
globe ; nay, at a period when naturalists, with Linnaeus at 
their head, supposed animals and plants to have proceeded 
from one centre : — an opinion that seemed to sustain the no- 
tion of the universality of the flood. The inference, then, 



136 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

that it was limited, must have been made chiefly on exegeti 
cal grounds. 

" 1 cannot see," says Bishop Stillingfleet, more than a cen 
tury ago, " any urgent necessity from the Scripture to assert 
that the flood did spread over all the surface of the earth. 
That all mankind, those in the ark excepted, were destroyed 
by it, is most certain, according to the Scriptures. The flood 
was universal as to mankind ; but from thence follows no 
necessity at all of asserting the universality of it as to the 
globe of the earth, unless it be sufficiently proved that the 
whole earth was peopled before the flood, which I despair of 
ever seeing proved." — Origines Sacrce, B. III. chap. 4, p. 
337, ed. 1709. 

Matthew Poole, well known for his valuable and extensive 
commentaries on the Bible, thus expresses himself : " It is 
not to be supposed that the entire globe of the earth was cov- 
ered with water. Where was the need of overwhelming 
those regions in which there were no human beings ? It 
would be highly unreasonable to suppose that mankind had so 
increased before the deluge as to have penetrated to all the 
corners of the earth. It is, indeed, not probable that they 
had extended themselves beyond the limits of Syria and 
Mesopotamia. Absurd it would be to affirm that the effects 
of the punishment inflicted upon men alone applied to places 
in which there were no men. If, then, we should entertain 
the belief that not so much as the hundredth part of the globe 
was overspread with water, still the deluge would be univer- 
sal, because the extirpation took effect upon all the part of 
the globe which was inhabited. If we take this ground, the 
difficulties which some have raised about the deluge fall away 
as inapplicable, and mere cavils ; and irreligious persons have 
no reason left them for doubting the truth of the Holy Scrip- 
tures." — Synopsis on Gen. vii. 19. 



OPINIONS OF COMMENTATORS. 137 

Poole wrote nearly two centuries ago. In more recent 
times, we find authorities equally eminent for learning and 
candor adopting the same views. "Interpreters," says Dathe, 
" do not agree whether the deluge inundated the whole earth, 
or only those regions then inhabited. I adopt the latter 
opinion. The phrase all does not prove the inundation to 
have been universal. It appears that in many places id (kol) 
is to be understood as limited to the thing or place spoken of. 
Hence all the animals said to have been introduced into the 
ark were only those of the region inundated. So, also, only 
those mountains are to be understood, which were surmounted 
by the waters." — Pentateuchus a Dathio, p. 63. 

But no modern writer has treated this subject with so much 
candor and ability — and the same may be said of his whole 
work on the " Relation of the Holy Scriptures to some Parts 
of Geological Science " — as Dr. John Pye Smith. We can 
say of him, what we can say of very few men, that he is accu- 
rately acquainted with all the branches of the subject. Eminent 
as a theologian and a philologist, and fully possessed of all 
the facts in geology and natural history, he gives us his 
opinion, not as a young man, fond of novelties, but in the 
full maturity of judgment and of years. " From these in- 
stances," says he, " of the scriptural idiom in the application 
of phraseology similar to that in the narrative concerning the 
flood, I humbly think that those- terms do not oblige us to 
understand a literal universality ; so that we are exonerated 
from some otherwise insuperable difficulties in natural his- 
tory and geology. If so much of the earth was overflowed 
as was occupied by the human race, both the physical and 
the moral ends of that awful visitation were answered." — 
Scrip, and Geol. p. 214, 4th ed. 

" Let us now take the seat of the antediluvian population," 
12* 



138 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

continues Dr. Smith, " to have been in Western Asia, in 
which a large district, even at the present day, lies consid- 
erably below the level of the sea. It must not be forgotten 
that six weeks of continued rain would not give an amount of 
water forty times that which fell on the first, or a subsequent 
day, for evaporation would be continually carrying up the 
water to be condensed, and to fall again ; so that the same mass 
of water would return many times. If, then, in addition to 
the tremendous rain, we suppose an elevation of the bed of 
the Persian and Indian Seas, or a subsidence of the inhabited 
land towards the south, we shall have sufficient cause in the 
hands of almighty justice for submerging the district, cover- 
ing its hills, and destroying all living beings within its limits, 
except those whom divine mercy preserved in the ark. The 
drawing off of the waters would be effected by a return of the 
bed of the sea to a lower level, or by the elevation of some 
tracts of land, which would leave channels and slopes for the 
larger part of the water to flow back into the Indian Ocean, 
while the lower part remained a great lake, or an inland sea, 
the Caspian." — p. 217. 

It is a circumstance favoring the above suggestions of Dr. 
Smith, that there is a tract of country ten degrees of latitude 
in breadth, embracing most of Asia Minor, ancient Armenia 
and Georgia, and part of Persia, extending at least as far east 
as the Caspian Sea, and probably much farther, in which vol- 
canic agency has been in operation at a comparatively recent 
period. I am not aware that we have evidence of any erup- 
tion of lava in those regions, within historic times, except, per- 
haps, some mud volcanoes in the Caucasian range. The 
Katekekaumene, or Burnt District, of Asia Minor, and Mount 
Ararat, probably experienced eruptions at a date somewhat 
earlier, though at a comparatively recent date. Yet impor- 



WHERE DID THE AUK REST? 139 

tant changes of level may have been the result of volcanic 
agency in Central Asia, as recently as the Noachian deluge, 
without leaving any traces which would be obvious, without 
more careful observation than has yet been made in those 
regions. Especially might a subsidence of the surface have 
taken place, and not have left any striking evidence of its 
occurrence. Still more difficult would it now be to discover 
the marks of vertical movements in the bed of the Indian 
Ocean at the time of the deluge. 

I will venture to add another suggestion. If the bed of the 
Indian Ocean was uplifted by volcanic matter, struggling to 
get vent, vapor enough might have been liberated to account, 
on natural principles, for the forty clays' rain of the deluge. 
For it is well known that in volcanic eruptions drenching 
rains are often the result of the sudden condensation of the 
aqueous vapor. 

We are here met, however, by a serious objection to the 
hypothesis, which gives only a limited extent to the deluge. 
If the present Mount Ararat, in Armenia, is the mountain on 
which the ark first rested, a deluge which covered its top must, 
by its flux and reflux, have overspread nearly all other por- 
tions of the globe, for that mountain rises seventeen thousand 
seven hundred feet above the ocean. But we are informed 
by Jerome, that the name Ararat was given generally to the 
mountains of Armenia; (indeed, that is the meaning of the 
name ;) and long before geology existed, Shuckford suggested 
that some spot farther east corresponds better with the scrip- 
tural account of the place where the ark rested. For it is said 
of the families of the sons of Noah, that, as they journeyed 
from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinnr. Now, 
Shinar, or Babylonia, lies nearly south of the Armenian Ara- 
rat, and the probability, therefore, is, that the true Ararat, from 



140 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

whose vicinity the descendants of Noah probably emigrated, 
lay much farther to the south. Again, if the ark rested upon 
the present Ararat, it is impossible, except by a miracle, that 
those who came out of it could have reached the plain below ; 
for so exceedingly difficult of access is it, that it is doubtful 
whether, since the deluge, any one ever succeeded in reaching 
its summit, till the year 1829. Indeed, it is an article in the 
creed of the Armenian church that its ascent is impossible. 
That the almost universal tradition of Eastern nations should 
have fixed upon that mountain as the resting-place of the ark 
is not strange, considering that there is no mountain in all Asia 
so striking to behold. 

But upon the whole, the probability is strong that some 
other elevation, less lofty and steep, was the radiating point 
of the postdiluvian races of man and other animals. The fact 
of Noah's sending forth a dove from the ark, which came back 
in the evening with an olive leaf in her mouth, strengthens 
the preceding view. For neither upon the present Ararat, nor 
around it, does the olive grow, because it is too cold. Indeed, 
all its upper part is covered with perpetual ice. But if the 
Ararat of Scripture lay nearer the tropics, the olive might 
find upon it a congenial spot. A distinguished botanist ad- 
duced the fact about the olive as evidence against the Bible. 
But how easily refuted, if the theory now under examination 
be true ! 

In favor of this supposition, I might have urged another 
consideration, which, in my mind, has no little weight. It is 
impossible that the waters of the deluge should have covered 
the earth for a year, without destroying nearly all the existing 
vegetation. Yet nothing is said of the preservation of seeds 
in the ark ; and if they had been preserved, certainly nothing 
but miraculous power, and that of the most remarkable kind, 



NEW CREATION AT THE DELUGE. 141 

could have scattered them through the remotest continents and 
islands, so as to form distinct botanical districts, such as have 
been described. The olive, from which a leaf was plucked 
by the dove sent out of the ark, was probably situated upon 
elevated ground, and where it remained but a short time be- 
neath the waters, and therefore did not lose its vitality. 

It is probable that the theory which makes the deluge lim- 
ited in extent will meet with more favor than any other, with 
candid and intelligent men, to meet the suggested difficulties 
of the case. But some, who are unwilling to abandon the 
idea of the universality of the deluge, avoid these difficulties 
by supposing a new creation to have taken place at that epoch. 
That such a new creation occurred at the commencement of 
several geological periods can hardly admit a doubt. And a 
presumption is hence derived in favor of a similar act at the 
beginning of the postdiluvian period, preceded as it was, like 
the other geological periods, by an almost entire destruction 
of organic life. 

The principal objection to this view is, that no notice is 
taken of such a new creation in the Bible. And it would seem 
that an event of so much importance would hardly be passed 
in silence ; and yet the bringing into existence new races of 
the inferior animals and plants could have but little bearing 
upon the object of revelation, which respects almost exclu- 
sively the spiritual condition of man. One, however, can 
hardly see why pairs and septuples of the animals, even in a 
limited district, need to have been preserved in the ark, if a 
new creation were to follow the coming catastrophe ; nor why 
the creation of the antediluvian animals, so soon to perish, 
should have been so particularly described, while no notice 
was taken of the postdiluvian races, which were to occupy 
the earth so much longer time. 



142 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

A third theory has been suggested by some, embracing both 
those which have been described. They admit the deluge to 
have been of limited extent, but suppose this limitation not 
to be sufficient to explain all the facts of revelation and of 
science, without a new creation also, at the commencement 
of the postdiluvian period. They suppose, indeed, that geol- 
ogy and natural history teach the occasional extinction of spe- 
cies, and the creation of others, even in our own times. And 
in regard to this latter view, it may at least be said that it is 
not contradicted by the Bible. Nay, one would almost sup- 
pose that the Psalmist were describing such a state of things 
when he says, Thou liidest thy face; they [animals] are 
troubled. Thou takest away their breath ; they die and re- 
turn to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit ; they are 
created ; and thou renewest the face of the earth. The re- 
semblance between this language and that employed to de- 
scribe the original creation is striking. Indeed, the same word 
(bawraiu) is used. 

Without attempting to decide which of these theories has 
the highest claim upon our belief, it is sufficient to remark, 
that either of them reconciles the facts of geology and natural 
history with the inspired record ; nor does the adoption of 
either of them require us to put a forced and unnatural con- 
struction upon the language of the Bible. Even then, if we 
should admit that a construction agreeing with these theories 
is not the most natural meaning, yet if the facts of natural 
history unequivocally require such an interpretation to har- 
monize the Bible with nature, it is assuredly one of those 
cases where science must be allowed to modify our exegesis 
of Scripture. In the view of sound philosophy, such mod- 
ification at once disarms scepticism of its cavils. 

With two remarks of a practical character, I close the dis- 
cussion of this subject. 



A SALUTARY LESSON. 143 

First. The history of opinions respecting the Noachian 
deluge furnishes a salutary lesson to those employed in the 
examination of analogous subjects. We have seen these opin- 
ions assume almost every possible shape ; yet, until recently 
they have all been maintained with the most positive and 
dogmatic assurance ; and each particular theory has been 
regarded as involving the essence of the Bible, as being the 
articulus stantis vel cadentis ecclesice, and whoever denied it 
virtually denied the Bible. But all reasonable and truly sci- 
entific men are fast coming to the conclusion, that the deluge 
has had very little to do with the present configuration of the 
globe, and that it is doubtful whether any trace of its occur- 
rence will ever be found in nature ; so that, on the one hand, 
all the alarms and denunciations of misguided Christians on 
this subject might have been spared ; and, on the other hand, 
if the hasty exultation of the infidel, in his supposed discovery 
of discrepancy between nature and Moses, had been sup- 
pressed until the subject was understood, he would not have 
experienced the mortification of entire defeat. 

It is, indeed, very humiliating to human nature to find so 
many of the wise, the talented, and the religious so confident 
and zealous, yet so erroneous. But it is a salutary lesson. 
It shows us the vast importance of being thoroughly ac- 
quainted with a subject before we dogmatize upon it. It 
should not, indeed, discourage us, and produce a universal 
scepticism on all subjects not admitting a mathematical dem- 
onstration ; but it should make us cautious in examining 
the grounds of our conclusions, and modest in maintaining 
them. 

Secondly. It is interesting to observe how, amid all the 
diversities and fluctuations of opinion on this subject, the Bible 
has remained unaffected. 



144 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 

The infidel felt confident that the arrows which he drew 
from this quiver would certainly pierce Christianity to the 
heart. But they rebounded from her adamantine breastplate, 
blunted and broken ; and no one will have the courage to 
pick them up and hurl them again. The physico-theological 
school at one time felt certain, that no other theory but an en- 
tire dissolution of the crust of the globe at the deluge, could 
possibly be made consistent with the Bible. More recently, 
it has been supposed equally necessary, to reconcile geology 
and revelation, that we should admit the antediluvian conti- 
nents to have sunk beneath the ocean at that time. Still 
later, it has been thought quite certain that the surface of the 
earth bore the most striking marks of a universal deluge, 
probably identical with that of Scripture. At length, the 
extreme opinion is now generally reached, that no trace of 
the deluge of Noah remains. And equally wide and well 
established is the belief that, amid all these fluctuations of 
theory, the Bible has stood as an immovable rock amid the 
conflicting waves. The final result is, that we have only 
slightly to modify the interpretation of the Mosaic account, in 
conformity with the laws of language, to make it entirely 
consistent with the notion that all traces of the deluge have 
disappeared. Thus, in the midst of human opinions, veering 
to every point of the compass, the Bible has ever remained 
fixed to one point. Not so with false systems of religion. 
The Hindoo religion contains a false astronomy, as well as 
anatomy and physiology ; and the Mohammedan Koran dis- 
tinctly advances the Ptolemaic hypothesis of the universe ; 
so that you have only to prove these religions false in science 
in order to destroy their claim to infallibility. But the Bible, 
stating only facts, does not interfere with, neither is affected 
by, the hypotheses of philosophy. Often, indeed, in past 



THE BIBLE UNAFFECTED. 145 

ages, have men set up their hypotheses as oracles in the 
temple of nature, to be consulted rather than the Bible. But, 
like Dagon before the ark, they have fallen to the earth, and 
been broken in pieces before the Word of God ; while this 
has ever stood and ever shall stand, in sublime simplicity and 
undecaying strength, amid the wrecks of every false system 
of philosophy and religion. 
13 



(146) 



LECTURE V. 
THE WORLD'S SUPPOSED ETERNITY. 

In our attempts thus far to elucidate the religion of geology, 
our attention has been directed to those points where this 
science has been supposed to conflict with revelation ; and I 
trust it has been made manifest that the collision was rather 
with the interpretation than with the meaning of Scripture ; 
and that, in fact, geology, instead of coming into collision 
with the Bible, affords us important aid in understanding it 
aright. We now advance to a part of the subject which has 
a more direct bearing upon natural religion. And here, if I 
mistake not, we shall find the illustration of religious truth 
from this science, as we might expect, more direct and 
palpable. 

The subject to which I wish first to call your attention is 
the world's eternity, or the eternal existence of matter. This 
was the universal belief of the philosophers of antiquity, and, 
indeed, of most reasoning minds where the Bible has not 
been known. The grand argument by which this opinion 
was sustained is the well-known ex nihilo nihil Jit, (nothing 
produces nothing.) Hence men inferred that not even the 
Deity could create matter out of nothing; and, therefore, it 
must be eternal. Most of the ancient philosophers, however, 
did not hence infer the non-existence of the Deity. But they 
endeavored to reconcile the existence of eternal matter with 
an eternal Spirit. They supposed both to be self-existent and 



PANTHEISM. 147 

coexistent. From this rational thinking principle they sup- 
posed all good to be derived ; while from the material irra- 
tional principle all evil sprung. Plato taught that God, of his 
own will, united himself with matter, although he did not 
create it, and out of it produced the present world ; so that 
it was proper to speak of the world as created, although the 
matter was from eternity. Aristotle and Zeno taught that 
God's union with matter was necessary ; and hence they con- 
sidered the world eternal. In the opinion of Epicurus, God 
was entirely separated from matter, which consisted of innu- 
merable atoms, floating about from eternity, like dust in the 
air, until at last they assumed the present form of the world. 

In modern times, the belief in the eternity of matter has 
usually been connected with, or made the basis of, a refined 
and popular system of atheism. I refer to the pantheism of 
Spinoza. He maintains that there exists in the universe but 
one substance, variously modified, whose two principal attri- 
butes are infinite extension and infinite intelligence. This 
substance, the to nav of Spinoza, he regarded as God ; and 
hence his system is called Pantheism. Under various modifi- 
cations, it has been adopted by many sceptical minds, and is, 
undoubtedly, the most common and plausible system of 
atheism extant. Other modern writers, among whom may be 
mentioned that anomalous philosopher Bayle, have advocated 
the views of the ancients respecting the eternity of matter. 

It may seem strange, but it is true, that some Christian phi- 
losophers and divines have been, in ancient and modern times, 
the advocates of the eternity of matter. The ancient Christians 
adopted it from Plato. Thus we find Justin Martyr maintain- 
ing that God formed the world from an eternal, unorganized 
material. And the schoolmen, who followed Aristotle, taught 
that u God had created the world from eternity." On this 



148 the world's supposed eternity. 

ground, even some Protestant theologians have asserted that 
it was absurd to speak of an eternal God who is not an eter- 
nal Creator. 

A principle which has thus been adopted by so many 
acute minds unenlightened by revelation, and by some 
who possessed that divine testimony, must be sustained by 
some plausible arguments. The principal one relied on is, 
that the changes which are going on in the material world 
are proved to be only transmutations, which follow one 
another in series that return into themselves, and which may, 
therefore, have been going on from eternity ; and if this be 
admitted, it is as easy to suppose matter to be self-sustained, 
and to have fallen into its present order of itself, as to sup- 
pose the interference of an infinite Spirit. " How do we 
know," says Dr. Chalmers, in stating the atheistic argument, 
" that the world is a consequent at all ? Is there any greater 
absurdity in supposing it to have existed, as it now is, at any 
specified point of time, throughout the millions of ages that are 
past, than that it should so exist at this moment ? Does what 
we suppose might have been then, imply any greater absurdi- 
ty, than what we actually see to be at present ? Now, might 
not the same question be carried back to any point or period 
of duration, however remote ? or, in other words, might we 
not dispense with a beginning for the world altogether ? " 
" For aught we can know a priori" says Hume, " matter 
may contain the source or spring of order originally within 
itself as well as mind does ; and there is no more diffi- 
culty in conceiving that the several elements, from an inter- 
nal, unknown cause, may fall into the most exquisite arrange- 
ment, than to conceive that their ideas, in the great universal 
mind, from a like internal cause, fall into that arrangement. 
If this material world rests upon a similar ideal world, this 



dr. Chalmers's views, 149 

ideal world must rest upon some other, and so on without end. 
It were better, therefore, never to look beyond the present 
material world. By supposing it to contain the principle of 
its order within itself, we really assert it to be God ; and the 
sooner we arrive at that divine Being, so much the better." 

Now, in what manner have these ingenious arguments 
been met ? Until quite recently, no one has supposed that 
any light on this subject could be derived from geology. In- 
deed, even now, by many, that science is regarded as favoring 
the idea of the world's eternity. Neither has it been thought 
that, on a question of natural theology, like this, it was proper 
to appeal to the Bible. Philosophers and divines, however, 
have attempted to reply to these arguments, irrespective of 
geology and revelation ; and they have generally convinced 
themselves that they have been successful. But to my mind, 
I must confess, this has always appeared the weakest spot in 
natural religion. Some of the arguments to prove the world 
not eternal do, indeed, appear, at first statement, very pro- 
found ; but they rather silence than convince ; and the longer 
we reflect upon them, the more apt are we to doubt their force. 

And here I am constrained to bear testimony to the mas- 
terly manner in which this subject has been treated by Dr. 
Chalmers. Perceiving that the defences of natural reli- 
gion on this subject were weak, in spite of much show 
of strength, he has laid out his giant force of intellect in 
clearing away the rubbish and building a rampart of rock. 
His remarkable skill in seizing upon and bringing out promi- 
nently the great principles of a difficult subject, and turning 
them round and round till they fill every eye, is here most 
happily exerted. 

Let us now proceed, in the first place, to examine the argu- 
ments that have been adduced to prove the non-eternity of 
13* 



150 the world's supposed eternity. 

the world, independent of geology and revelation ; and in the 
second place, to derive from these two sources of evidence 
the true ground on which that proposition rests. 

The first supposed proof that the world has not eternally 
existed is derived from what is called the a priori argument 
for the existence of the Deity, originally proposed by the 
monk Anselmus, and afterwards more fully illustrated in 
England by Dr. Samuel Clarke. Take the following brief 
summary of this argument, as applied to the eternity of mat- 
ter, in the words of Dr. Crombie. 

" Whatever has existed from eternity, independent and 
without any external cause, must be self-existent. Whatever 
is self-existent must exist necessarily, by an absolute neces- 
sity in the nature of the thing. This is also self-evident. 
It follows, therefore, that unless the material world exist 
necessarily, by an absolute necessity in its own nature, so 
that it must be a contradiction to suppose it not to exist, it 
cannot be independent and eternal. In order to disprove this 
absolute necessity, he [Dr. Clarke] reasoned thus : If matter 
be supposed to exist necessarily, then in that necessary exist- 
ence is included the power of gravitation, or it is not. If not, 
then in a world merely material, and in which no intelligent 
being presides, there never could have been any motion. 
But if the power of gravitation be included in the pretended 
necessary existence of matter, then it follows necessarily, that 
there must be a vacuum ; it follows, likewise, that matter is 
not a necessary being. For if a vacuum actually be, then it 
is plainly more than possible for matter not to be. 1 ' 

Is it not passing strange that such a dreamy argumentation 
as this — and it is a fair sample of Dr. Clarke's extended 
work on the existence of the Deity — should have been re- 
garded as sound logic by many of the acutest minds, and that 



THE A PRIORI ARGUMENT. 151 

a majority even of the ablest metaphysicians, up almost to the 
present day, should have felt satisfied with it ? A few minds, 
indeed, long ago perceived its fallacy, among whom was 
Alexander Pope, who thus sarcastically describes it : — 

" Be that my task, replies a gloomy Clarke, 
Sworn foe to mystery, yet divinely dark. 
Let others creep by timid steps and slow, 
On plain experience lay foundation low, 
By common sense to common notions bred, 
And last to nature's cause through nature led, 
All-seeing in thy mists, we need no guide, 
Mother of arrogance, and source of pride ! 
We nobly take the high priori road, 
And reason downward till we doubt of God." 

Dunciad, Book IV. 

It is impossible, on this occasion, to go into a formal refuta- 
tion of this famous argument. But this is unnecessary ; since, 
as Dr. Chalmers says, it " has fallen into utter disesteem and 
desuetude." Indeed, the language of Dr. Thomas Brown on 
this subject is not too severe, when he says, that he " con- 
ceives the abstract arguments that have been adduced to show 
that it is impossible for matter to have existed from eternity, 
by reasoning on what has been termed necessary existence, 
and the incompatibility of this necessary existence with the 
qualities of matter, to be relics of the mere verbal logic of 
the schools, as little capable of producing conviction as any 
of the wildest and most absurd of the technical scholastic rea- 
sonings on the properties, or supposed properties, of entity and 
nonentity." 

In the second place, it has been argued with much apparent 
plausibility, by Dr. Paley, that wherever we find a compli- 
cated organic structure, adapted to produce beneficial results, 



152 the world's supposed eternity. 

its origin must be sought beyond itself; and since the world 
abounds with such organisms, it cannot be eternal ; that is, the 
mere existence of animals and plants proves their non-eternity. 

Now, without asserting that there is no force in this argument, 
I have two remarks to make upon it. The first is, to quote the 
reply to it, which such a writer as David Hume has given, in 
language which I have just repeated. " For aught we can know 
a priori" says he, " matter may contain the source or spring 
of order originally within itself, as well as mind does ; and 
there is no more difficulty in conceiving that the several ele- 
ments, from an internal unknown cause, may fall into the 
most exquisite arrangement, than to conceive that their ideas 
in the great universal mind, from a like internal unknown 
cause, fall into that arrangement. To say that the different 
ideas, which compose the reason of the Supreme, fall into 
order of themselves, and by their own nature, is really to talk 
without any precise meaning. If it has a meaning, I would 
fain know why it is not as good sense to say, that the parts of 
the material world fall into order of themselves and by their 
own nature. Can the one opinion be intelligible while the 
other is not so ? " 

Fairly to meet this reasoning of the prince of sceptics is 
not an achievement of dulness or ignorance. In order to do 
it triumphantly, we want, what Dr. Paley could not find, a 
distinct example of the creation of numerous organic beings 
by some cause independent of themselves. I say, he could 
not find such an example ; for on a question of natural the- 
ology, he did not think it proper to appeal to the Bible ; nor 
had geology, when he wrote, revealed her astonishing record 
on this subject. But as it is now developed, it puts an end to 
all controversy as to the origin of the organic world. 

My second remark, however, on this argument is, that even 



SIR JOHN HI.RSCHEL'S ARGUMENT. 153 

admitting its correctness, it only proves the commencement 
of organic natures, but does not show that the matter of which 
they are composed may not have been eternal. 

In the third place, an argument against the eternal exist- 
ence of matter has been derived by Sir John Herschel, one 
of the most distinguished natural philosophers of the day, from 
the atomic constitution of bodies, as made known to us by 
chemistry. This science makes it certainly probable, that 
even the infinitesimal particles of matter have a definite and 
peculiar shape, and size, and weight, in each of the elements. 
" Now," says this writer, " when we see a great number of 
things precisely alike, we do not believe this similarity to have 
originated, except from a common principle independent of 
them." " The discoveries alluded to effectually destroy the 
idea of an external self-existent matter, by giving to each of 
its atoms the essential characters at once of a manufactured 
article and a subordinate agent." 

To this argument the atheist's reply would be essentially 
the same as that last considered ; and in one respect it would 
even be more forcible, because the atomic constitution of 
bodies, being less complex, is less obviously the result of for- 
eign agency, and may more easily be regarded as the neces- 
sary property of eternal matter. On the other hand, how- 
ever, it is more obviously an attribute of the original constitu- 
tion of matter than organic structure ; and if it does require 
an independent agency for its production, it seems difficult to 
conceive of the existence of matter in a previous state. So 
that, in this point Df view, this argument is more forcible than 
the last ; and it is no small evidence that it has real strength, 
that it comes to us from one of the most acute and impartial 
minds in Europe. 

In the fourth place, it is maintained that the idea of an 



154 the world's supposed eternity. 

eternal succession, or chain of being, which the atheistic advo- 
cates of the world's eternity defend, is highly absurd, and even 
mathematically false. 

The atheist mainly relies upon this notion of an eternal 
series of things ; for if he can defend that opinion, he will 
overturn the main argument of the Theist for the divine exist- 
ence, viz., that .from design in the works of creation. On 
this ground, therefore, he should be fairly met. Has he been 
so met by the reasoning that has usually been employed to 
refute his opinion ? As a fair sample of it, I will here quote 
the leading points of the argument, as given by one of the most 
popular and able theologians of our country. " It is asserted 
by atheists," says Dr. D wight, " that there has been an eternal 
series of things. The absurdity of this assertion may be shown 
in many ways. 

" First. Each individual in a series is a unit. But every 
collection of units, however great, is with intuitive certainty 
numerable, and, therefore, cannot be infinite." 

" Secondly. Every individual in the series (take for example 
a series of men) had a beginning. But a collection of beings 
must, however long the series, have had a beginning. This, 
likewise, is intuitively evident." 

M Thirdly. It is justly observed by the learned and acute Dr. 
Bentley, that in the supposed infinite series, as the number of 
individual men is alleged to be infinite, the number of their 
eyes must have been twice, the number of their fingers ten 
times, and the number of the hairs on their heads many thou- 
sand times, as great as the number of men." 

" Fourthly. It is also observed by the same excellent writer, 
that all these generations of men were once present." — 
DwighVs Theology, vol. ii. p. 24. 

How is it possible that such reasoning should have satisfied 



mr. tracy's argument. 155 

logical and philosophical minds ? Would it not be equally 
good to disprove the demonstrated principles of mathematics 
which relate to infinite quantities ? For in mathematics an 
infinite series of units is a familiar phrase ; and it is also com- 
mon to speak of one infinite quantity as twice, or ten times, 
or many thousand times, greater than another, and that, too, 
vn just such cases as the one referred to above. 

True, mathematical infinites are in some respects different 
from metaphysical infinites ; but it is the former that belong 
to this argument, since the supposed infinite succession of 
organic beings forms a mathematical series. 

An acute writer in our own country, however, has recently 
attempted to show that " there can be no number actually 
infinite, and therefore no infinite number of generations." * 
That the mathematician cannot actually present before us the 
whole of an infinite series, is indeed most certain ; for such 
power belongs only to an Infinite Being. But does the fact 
that man's faculties are limited, prove that an arithmetical 
process cannot be carried on from eternity to eternity ? Be- 
cause man cannot put upon paper the series of numbers rep- 
resenting the miles in infinite space, or the hours in infinite 
duration, is there, therefore, no such thing as infinite space, 
or infinite duration ? Certainly not, if this reasoning be 
correct. 

In spite, however, of such mathematical metaphysics, is it 
not an intelligible statement of the atheist, when he says of 
any generation of men and animals in past time, that there 
was another that preceded it ; and unless you have matter-of- 
fact proof to the contrary, how will you disprove his asser- 
tion? You may show him that practically he can never 

• Rev. Joseph Tracy, Bibliotheca Sacra, Oct. 1850, p. 614. 



156 the world's supposed eternity. 

exhibit a series, even of numbers, extending eternally back- 
ward ; but he may, in return, challenge you to put your finger 
upon the first link of the chain of organic nature. If you 
attempt it, he will reply that other links preceded the one you 
have named, and that, as far as you^ choose to run backward, 
he can go farther ; in other words, by the very supposition 
which he makes, he excludes a beginning to organic nature, 
and, therefore, all reasoning which assumes such a beginning 
is of no force against his conclusions. If a series which 
may thus be extended indefinitely backward be not infinite 
in a metaphysical sense, it is to common sense. 

Let me not be thought to be an advocate in any sense for 
the unsupported notion of an infinite series of organic beings. 
But the question is, whether those who, in spite of common 
sense, have maintained this opinion, have been fairly refuted 
by such metaphysical evasions as I have quoted. The truth 
is, that, in order to end this dispute, the Theist needs to bring 
forward at least one example in which the commencement 
of some race of animals can be fairly pointed out ; and I 
know not where such an example can be found, save in the 
Bible and geology. 

In the fifth place, the changing state of the world has been 
regarded as incompatible with the world's eternity. This 
argument is thus stated by Bishop Sumner : " If the universe 
itself is the first eternal being, its existence is necessary, as 
metaphysicians speak ; and it must be possessed of all those 
qualities which are inseparable from necessary existence. 
Of this nature are immutability and perfection. For change 
is the attribute of imperfection, and imperfection is incompat- 
ible with that Being, which is, as the hypothesis affirms, inde- 
pendent, and, therefore, can have no source of imperfection. 
To suppose, therefore, of the first independent Being, that it 



MUTABILITY OF THE WORLD. 157 

could have existed otherwise than it is, is no less contrary to 
the idea of necessity, with which we set out, than to suppose 
it not to exist at all." 

This reasoning is not destitute of plausibility. For there 
is scarcely any lesson more forcibly impressed on short-lived 
man than the mutability of the world. And it is indeed true 
that change is its most striking attribute. But when we look 
at the subject philosophically, we find that all this mutability 
is consistent with the most perfect ultimate stability ; nay, 
that the change is essential to secure the stability. Apart 
from what revelation and geology teach, these changes in 
nature form cycles, which, like those in astronomy, are per- 
fectly consistent with the eternal permanence of the general 
system to which they belong. In the motions of the heaven- 
ly bodies, a considerable amount of irregularity and oscilla- 
tion about a mean state does not tend to the ruin, but rather to 
the preservation, of the system, provided the anomalies do not 
extend beyond certain limits. It is just so with other changes 
that are going on around us. All of them are, in fact, as 
much regulated by mathematical laws as the perturbations of 
the heavenly bodies; although those laws are more compli- 
cated and difficult to bring out in distinct formulae in the for- 
mer case than in the latter. Yet even in astronomy, it is not 
many years since the mutual disturbances among the heav- 
enly bodies were supposed to be the certain precursors of 
ruin to the system. It was not till the famous problem of 
the three bodies was solved, by the use of the most refined 
mathematical analysis, that astronomers learnt the true opera- 
tion of those causes of disturbance among the heavenly bod- 
ies which exist in their mutual attractions. It was then found 
that, so balanced are they in their action, and so narrow tHeir 
limits, that they can never affect the stability of the system ; 
14 



158 the world's supposed eternity. 

or, rather, they secure that stability. It is, indeed, true, that 
when changes in nature go on increasing or decreasing in 
magnitude indefinitely, they clearly indicate a beginning and 
an end to the system to which they belong. And it was 
on this principle that the earlier astronomers predicted that 
the celestial perturbations would ultimately bring the universe 
to a state of chaos. They found, for instance, that the moon's 
orbit was decreasing in size, and they inferred that, ultimate- 
ly, that luminary must come to the earth. But they now 
know it to be mathematically certain that, after a long period, 
the diminution of the orbit will cease ; it will begin to expand, 
and go on expanding, until the opposite point of oscillation 
is reached, when it will again diminish ; and in this manner, 
if God's will permit, perform its eternal round. Just so it is 
with all the irregularities of the solar system. 

♦'Yonder starry sphere 
Of planets, and of fixed, in all her wheels, 
Resembles nearest mazes intricate, 
Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular ; 
Then most, when most irregular they seem." 

And so it is with all the natural changes which we witness 
around us, and with all which science shows us to have taken 
place on the globe, excepting some which geology discloses, 
and perhaps one which astronomy renders probable. Let us 
look at some of thot^ changes which the argument under 
consideration regards as inconsistent with the world's eternity. 

Nearly all the changes in nature with which we are ac- 
quainted belong to three classes, — the mechanical, the chem- 
ical, and the organic. Astronomical changes are purely 
mechanical ; and hence the ease with which they may be cal- 
culated by mathematics. The universal system of death, 



ANTAGONIST AGENCIES. 159 

which reign? over all animals and plants, is the result of 
organic laws ; and it is this which probably gives to man the 
strongest impression of the transient nature of sublunary- 
things. But just consider the antagonist agencies to this uni- 
versal destroyer. I refer to the equally universal system of 
reproduction, and to the law by which permanence of species 
is secured. The consequence is, that, while every individual 
animal and plant dies, the species survives. In the whole 
history of the animals and plants now existing on the globe, 
only eight or ten certain examples are on record in which a 
species has become extinct, and those are some large birds, 
such as the dinornis and dodo, once inhabitants of the Isle 
of Bourbon and New Zealand. Every one of the human 
family, every elephant, every ox, every lion, &c, die, but 
man, as a species, still lives ; and so does the elephant, the ox, 
and the lion ; and most obviously this is a law of nature. 
How easy, then, for the atheist to evade the force of your 
argument against the world's eternity, drawn from the rav- 
ages of death ! He has only to suppose the havoc of indi- 
viduals by death always to have been repaired by the equiva- 
lent operation of reproduction, and that these two agencies 
have been balanced against each other from eternity ; and 
how will you prove this impossible, except by the absurd 
metaphysical arguments already considered ? 

Atmospheric and aqueous changes often, and, indeed, gen- 
erally, appear more chaotic and destitute of a controlling 
force than any others in nature. When the winds are let 
loose from their prison-house ; when the heavens become 
dark, and the clouds, rent by the lightnings, pour down their 
contents, and the swollen torrents carry desolation down the 
mountain's side and over the wide plain ; when the ocean 
rolls in upon the land its giant waves ; when the tornado 
sweeps all before it, in rich tropical regions ; or when the 



160 the world's supposed eternity. 

sirocco sends its hot blast, loaded with sand, over the devoted 
surface, — in all these cases, how difficult for us to conceive 
that all this uproar among the elements is limited and con- 
trolled by laws as fixed and unalterable as those which regu- 
late the heavenly bodies ! Nevertheless, it must be so ; and 
although the winds and the waters seem to be rioting 
at their pleasure, there are, in fact, at work antagonist 
agencies, which will confine their wild war to a narrow field, 
and soon bring them again into peaceful submission. For 
such has always been the case, and the limits of their irreg- 
ularities are no wider now than six thousand years ago. In 
other words, the repressing agency has always been superior 
to the destroying force, when the latter has risen to a certain 
limit ; and 1 doubt not but the profounder mathematics of 
angelic minds might as easily calculate the anomalies and 
perturbations of winds and waves as the formulas of La Place 
can determine those of the solar system. And if such 
constancy has existed for six thousand years in meteorological 
changes, — of all others in nature apparently the most irreg- 
ular, — why, the atheist will ask, may not that constancy 
have been eternal ? And with equal reason may he ask the 
same in respect to all changes resulting from mechanical, 
chemical, and organic laws, which we witness in nature, ex- 
cept those which come within the province of geology, and 
even concerning some of those ; and what changes in the 
material world do not result, directly or remotely, from one 
or two, or all of these laws ? Yet, in regard to all these 
changes, there is no inconsistency in supposing them to have 
gone on in an eternal series ; and hence they furnish no 
proof of the non-eternity of the world. 

In the seventh and last place, the recent origin of society, 
as shown by historical monuments, is regarded as evidence 
of the recent origin of the world. This argument was well 



RECENT ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. 161 

understood as long ago as the days of Lucretius, who states 
it very clearly in the oft-quoted lines, — 

" Si nulla fuit genitalis origo, 
Terrarum et coeli, semperque eterna fuit, 
Cur, supra bellum Thebanum et funera Trojae, 
Non alias alii quoque res cecinere poetae ? " 

This argument, though it has been met by a plausible 
reply, is certainly of great importance in its bearing upon the 
recent origin of the human race, which, as we shall shortly 
see, is a point of much interest. But it is obvious that it 
proves nothing respecting the origin of matter, since this 
might have had an eternal existence before man was placed 
upon it. We need not, therefore, be delayed by its dis- 
cussion. 

Such is a fair summary, as I believe, of the arguments 
usually adduced, aside from the Bible and geology, to prove 
the non-eternity of the world. I am not prepared to say that 
they amount to nothing ; but I do believe that they perplex, 
rather than convince, and that some of them are mere meta- 
physical quibbles. 

They do not produce that instantaneous conviction which 
most of the arguments of natural theology force upon the 
mind ; and it is easy to see how a man of a sceptical turn 
should rise from their examination entirely unaffected, or 
affected unfavorably. Let us now, therefore, turn to geology, 
and inquire whether its archives will afford us any clearer 
light upon the subject. 

And here we must confess, at the outset, that geology fur- 
nishes us no more evidence than the other sciences of the 
creation of the matter of the universe out of nothing. But it 
does furnish us with examples of such modifications of matter 
14* 



162 the world's supposed eternity. 

as could be effected only by a Deity. Suppose, then, we 
should be obliged to acknowledge to the atheist, that we yield 
to him the point of matter's eternal existence, if he pleases, 
because we can find nowhere in nature decisive evidence of 
its creation, and then take our stand upon the arrangements 
and metamorphoses of matter. Or, rather, suppose we say to 
him, that we shall not contend with him as to the origin of 
matter, but challenge him to explain, if he can, without a 
Deity, its modifications, as taught by geology. If that sci- 
ence does disclose to us such changes on the globe as no 
power and wisdom but those of an infinite God could produce, 
then of what consequence is it, so far as religion is concerned, 
whether we can, or cannot, demonstrate the first creation of 
matter? I can conceive of no religious truth that would be 
unfavorably affected, though we should admit that this point 
cannot be settled. Let us, then, at least for the sake of argu- 
ment, admit that it cannot be, and proceed to inquire whether, 
aside from this point, geology does not teach us all that is 
necessary to establish the most perfect system of Theism. I 
shall select four examples from that science, each of which 
is independent of the others in its bearing upon the subject, 
since in this way the argument will become cumulative ; and 
if some are not satisfied with one example, the others may 
produce conviction. 

In the first place, geology teaches that the time has been 
when the earth existed as a molten mass of matter, and, there- 
fore, all the animals and plants now existing upon its surface, 
and all those buried in its rocky strata, must have had a be- 
ginning, or have been created. I should be sustained by many 
probabilities, were I to go farther, and maintain that the time 
was when the globe existed in a gaseous state — an opinion 
very widely adopted by able philosophers of the present day. 



ALL ROCKS ONCE MELTED. 163 

But as this view is more hypothetical than ray first position, 
which makes the earth a liquid mass, and as nothing would 
be gained to the argument by supposing it in a gaseous state, 
I shall not press that point. That it was once in a state of 
fusion is probable from the very great heat still remaining in 
its interior. But more direct proof of this results from the 
facts, now admitted by almost all geologists, that the unstrati- 
fied rocks have all been melted, and that the stratified class 
have all, or nearly all, been the result of disintegration and 
abrasion of the unstratified masses. A striking confirmation of 
this opinion is the spheroidal figure of the earth, — a figure 
precisely such as the globe would have assumed in conse- 
quence of rotation, had it been in a fluid state. In fine, so 
many and so decisive are the facts which point to the original 
igneous fluidity of the globe, that no competent judge thinks 
of doubting that all the matter of which it is composed, cer- 
tainly its crust, has some time or other been in that state. It 
is, however, the opinion of some geologists of distinction, that 
the whole of it was not in fusion at the same time, and that its 
different portions have passed successively through the fur- 
nace. But this view of the subject scarcely affects my argu- 
ment, since at whatever period the fusion of any part took 
place, the destruction of organic life, if it existed, must have 
been the consequence. The essential thing is, to show that 
such was once the state of the earth that animals and plants 
could not have existed on it. For if such was the case, their 
creation must have been a subsequent operation ; and if this 
did not require an infinite Being to accomplish it, no result 
in nature would demand his agency. 

To prove the original igneous fluidity of the globe, we might 
have adopted another course of argument. All will admit 
that the present temperature of the interior of the earth is far 



164 the world's supposed eternity. 

more elevated than that of the surrounding planetary spaces. 
The inevitable result is, from the known laws of heat, that its 
radiation into the celestial spaces is constantly going on, and 
consequently the earth's temperature is being constantly low- 
ered. Who can tell us now when this process of refrigera- 
tion commenced ? If no one, then there must have been a 
time when the heat was great enough to fuse the whole globe. 
And the facts already stated confirm such an inference. For 
all the efforts hitherto made to show that the earth may be 
passing through regions of various temperatures, in its march 
around the centre of centres, amount to nothing more than 
dreamy conjecture. 

In order to feel the force of the argument, sustained by so 
many facts in geology, just picture to yourselves this vast 
globe as a mass of liquid fire. From such a world every thing 
organic must have been excluded, and every thing combus- 
tible consumed, and only such combinations of matter have 
existed as incandescent heat could not decompose. Compare 
such a world with that now teeming with life, and beauty, and 
glory, which we inhabit ; and say, must not the transition to 
its present condition have demanded the exercise of infinite 
power, infinite wisdom, and infinite benevolence ? You can, 
indeed, conceive how a solid crust might have formed over 
the vast fiery ocean, by the simple radiation of heat ; and then, 
too, by natural laws, might the vapors have been condensed 
into oceans and clouds, while volcanic force within might 
have lifted up our continents and mountains above the flood. 
But what a picture of desolation and ruin would such a world 
present, while unadorned with vegetation, and with no voice 
of life to break the stillness" of universal death! Here is, then, 
the precise point where we need the interference of a Deity. 
Admit, if you please, that atheism, with its eternal matter and 



ECONOMIES OF LIFE. 165 

the laws of nature at command, might form a world without 
inhabitants. Who does not see, that to bestow organization, 
and life, and instinct, to say nothing of intellect, upon brute 
matter, is the loftiest prerogative of Jehovah ? especially to 
fill so vast a world as ours with its teeming millions, exhibit- 
ing ten thousand diversities of size, form, and structure. 

Let the atheist then exult in the belief of an eternal world. 
Geology shows him that it must have oeen without inhabitants ; 
and that, therefore, the most wonderful part of the creation still 
remains to be accounted for ; while physiology teaches that the 
interference of an infinite Deity can alone solve the enigma. 

My second example from geology to disprove the notion of 
an eternal series of animals and plants on the globe, is de- 
rived from the history of organic remains. That history shows 
us clearly, that the earth, since its creation, has been the seat 
of several distinct economies of life, each occupying long 
periods, and successively passing away. During each of these 
periods, distinct groups of animals and plants have occupied 
the earth, the air, and the waters. Each successive group has 
been entirely distinct from that which preceded it, though each 
group was exactly adapted to the existing state of the climate 
and the food provided ; so that, had the different groups 
changed places with one another, they must have perished, 
because their constitutions were adapted only to the state of 
things during the period in which they actually lived. A dis- 
tinguished naturalist has recently declared that " he has dis- 
covered, in surveying the entire series of fossil animal remains, 
five great groups, so completely independent that no species 
whatever is found in more than one of them." — Deshayes. 

Including the existing races, this would give us six entirely 
distinct groups of organic beings that have lived in succession 
upon this globe since it became a habitable world. But even 



166 the v/orld's supposed eternity. 

if it should be found that a few species are common to ad- 
joining groups, the great truth would still remain, that the 
different groups were too much unlike to be contemporaries, 
and that consequently a new creation must have taken place 
whenever each new group commenced its course. 

It is probable the earth has changed its inhabitants more 
than the six times that have been mentioned ; some think as 
many as twelve times. But a larger number cannot yet be 
proved so clearly ; and could they be, they would add nothing 
to this argument ; for it rests mainly on the fact that this 
change of organic life has even once been complete. We 
may, however, very safely assume that the present animals 
and plants are the sixth group that have occupied the globe.* 

These facts being admitted, and who does not see the neces- 
sity of divine interference, whenever one race of animals and 
plants passed from the earth in order to repeople it ? It is not 
difficult to conceive how volcanic fires, or aqueous inunda- 
tions, may have carried universal destruction over the globe, 
and bereft it of inhabitants. But where, save in the fiat of 
an infinite Deity, is the power that can make this universe of 
death teem again with life and beauty ? In the powerful lan- 
guage of Dr. Chalmers, we may inquire, " Is there aught in 
the rude and boisterous play of a great physical catastrophe 
that can germinate those exquisite structures, which, during 
our yet undisturbed economy, have been transmitted in pacific 
succession to the present day ? What is there in the rush, 
and turbulence, and mighty clamor of such great elements, of 
ocean heaved from its old resting-place, and lifting its billows 
above the Alps and the Andes of a former continent, — what 
is there in this to charm into being the embryo of an infant 
family, wherewith to stock and to repeople a now desolate 

* See the Frontispiece. 



NEW SYSTEMS OUT OF OLD ONES. 167 

world ? We see in the sweeping energy and uproar of this 
elemental war enough to account for the disappearance of 
all the old generations, but nothing that might cradle any- 
new generations into existence, so as to have effloresced on 
ocean's deserted bed the life and loveliness which are now 
before our eyes. At no juncture, we apprehend, in the his- 
tory of the world, is the interposition of the Deity more mani- 
fest than at this ; nor can we better account for so goodly a 
creation emerging again into new forms of animation and 
beauty from the wreck of the old one, than that the spirit of 
God moved on the face of chaos, and that nature, turned by 
the last catastrophe into a wilderness, was again repeopled 
at the utterance of his word." 

Sir Isaac Newton has said, that c< the growth of new sys- 
tems out of old ones, without the mediation of a divine power, 
seems to me apparently absurd." He seems in this passage 
to have referred only to the arrangements of matter, " with 
respect to size, figure, proportions, and properties," and not 
to the principle of life, of instinct, or of intellect. But when 
the latter are taken into the account, it must be superlatively 
absurd to suppose new systems can grow out of old ones by 
merely natural operations. He, indeed, who can bring him- 
self to believe, with a certain writer, that " the instincts of ani- 
mals are nothing more than inert and passive attractions, de- 
rived from the power of sensation, and the instinctive opera- 
tions of animals nothing more than crystallizations produced 
through the agency of that power," — such a man could prob- 
ably easily persuade himself that, by the help of galvanism, 
animals and plants might be the result of natural operations. 
Such doctrines, however, we shall examine in another lecture. 

My third example from geology, showing the non-eternity 
of the present condition of the globe, is the fact of the disap- 



168 the world's supposed eternity. 

pearance of several large species of animals since the com- 
mencement of the most recent or alluvial geological period. 
Certain large pachydermatous and other animals, such as the 
fossil elephant, the mastodon, the megatherium, the mylodon, 
the megalonyx, the glyptodon, the fossil horse, ox, deer, &c., 
also nine or ten species of huge birds — the dinornis, the 
palapteryx, aptornis, notornis, and nestor of New Zealand, 
the dodo of Mauritius and Bourbon, and the pezohaps or 
solitaire of Rodriguez, — have ceased to exist since the tertiary 
period ; some of them — the birds, for instance — since 
man's creation*. Now, if any important species of animals 
from time to time disappear from any system of organic life, 
it shows a tendency to ruin in that system ; for such is the 
intimate dependence of different beings upon one another, 
that you cannot blot out one, certainly not a large number, 
without disturbing the healthy balance between the whole, 
and probably bringing the whole to ultimate ruin. At any 
rate, if several species die out by natural processes, no reason 
can be given why others should not, in like manner, dis- 
appear. And to prove that any organic system shows a 
tendency to ruin is to show that it had a beginning. 

My third example from geology, demonstrating the special 
interference of the Deity in the affairs of this world, is the 
fact of the comparatively recent commencement of the human 
race. That man was among the very last of the animals 
created is made certain by the fact that his remains are found 
only in the highest part of alluvium. This is rarely more 
than one hundred feet in thickness, while the other fossilifer- 
ous strata, lying beneath the alluvium, are six miles thick. 

Hence man was not in existence during all the period in 
which these six miles of strata were in a course of deposition, 
and he has existed only during the comparatively short period 



MAN RECENTLY CREATED. 169 

in which the one hundred feet of alluvium have been formed; 
nay, during only a small part of the alluvial period. His 
bones, having the same chemical composition as the bones of 
other animals, are no more liable to decay ; and, therefore, 
had he lived and died in any of the periods preceding the 
alluvial, his bones must have been mixed with those of other 
animals belonging to those periods. But they are not thus 
found in a single well-authenticated instance, and, therefore, 
his existence has been limited to the alluvial period. Hence 
he must have been created and placed upon the globe — 
such is the testimony of geology — during the latter part of 
the alluvial period. 

I might include in this example nearly all the other species 
of existing animals and plants, since it is only a very few of 
these that are found fossil, and such species are limited to 
the tertiary strata. But since this might make some confu- 
sion in the argument, and since man is confessedly at the 
head of the existing creation, I prefer to let his case stand 
out alone, and to regard it instar omnium. 

Here, then, we have a case in which geology can lay her 
finger upon the precise epoch, in the revolutions of our globe, 
in which the most complicated, perfect, and exalted being 
that ever dwelt upon its surface first began to be. It was not 
the commencement of a mere zoophyte, or cryptogamean 
plant, in which we see but little- superiority to unorganized 
matter, except in their possession of a low degree of vitality. 
But we have a being complicated enough to contain a million 
of parts, endowed with the two great attributes of life, sensi- 
bility and contractility, in the highest degree, and, above all, 
possessing intellect and moral powers far more wonderful 
than organization and animal life. 

As to the period when the creation of such a being, by the 
15 



170 the world's supposed eternity. 

most astonishing of all miracles, took place, I believe there is 
no diversity of opinion. At least, all agree that it was very 
recent ; nay, although geology can rarely give chronological 
dates, but only a succession of events, she is able to say, 
from the monuments she deciphers, that man cannot have 
occupied the globe more than six thousand years. 

Now, if it was difficult to conceive how successive races 
of the inferior animals and plants could have originated in 
the laws of nature, without the special interference of the 
Deity, that difficulty increases in a rapid ratio as we ascend 
on the scale of 'organization and intellect, and attempt in the 
same manner to account for the origin of man without the 
miraculous agency of Deity. The thorough-going material- 
ist, however, does not shrink from the effort. " Thought," 
says Bory de St. Vincent, * being the necessary result of 
a certain kind of organization, wherever this order is estab- 
lished, thought is necessarily derived from it ; and it is no 
more possible for the molecules of matter, arranged in a 
certain manner, not to produce thought, than for brass, when 
smitten, not to return a sound, or for creatures formed by this 
matter, after such and such laws, not to walk, not to breathe, 
not to reproduce ; in a word, not to exercise any of the facul- 
ties which result from their peculiar mechanism of organiza- 
tion." — Diet. Clas. D. Hist. Nat. art. Matiere. 

This may seem, upon a superficial view, to be settling this 
matter at once. But it merely shifts the difficulty from one 
part of the subject to another. Admitting the premises of 
the materialist to be correct, it does indeed show us the prox- 
imate cause of thought. But the mind immediately inquires 
how a certain organization became possessed of such won- 
derful power. Is it inherent in matter, or is it a power com 
municated to organization by a supreme Being? If the 



MAN'S • REATION MIRACULOUS. 171 

latter, it is just what the Theist contends for ; if the former, 
then there is just as much necessity for the original interposi- 
tion of the Deity, in order to give matter such an astonishing 
power, as there is, on the theory of 'the immaterialist, to 
impart a spiritual and immortal principle to matter. The 
materialist will, indeed, say that matter has possessed this 
power from eternity. But this supposition, evidently absurd, 
does in fact invest matter with the attributes of Deity ; since 
those attributes, and those alone, are sufficient to account for 
the phenomena. And besides, how is the fact to be explained 
that this power was not exerted till six thousand years ago ? 

But with the exception of the materialist, I am sure that 
most reasoning minds will feel as if the creation of the hu- 
man family was one of the most stupendous, perhaps the 
most stupendous, exercise of infinite power and wisdom 
which the universe exhibits. If any change whatever de- 
mands a Deity for its accomplishment, it must be this ; and, 
therefore, geology presents, in the case of man, the most 
striking example which nature could furnish of a beginning 
of organic and intellectual life on the globe. It shows us that 
there was a time, and that not remote, when the first link of 
the curious chain of the human family, now constantly 
lengthening by inflexible laws, was created. 

I might now refer to certain recent discoveries in astrono- 
my, which have the same bearing upon the general argument 
as the examples that have been quoted from geology, although 
less decisive. After the famous demonstration of the eternity 
of the universe by La Grange, provided the present laws of 
gravity alone control it, we could hardly expect that, so soon, 
even astronomy would furnish proof of a disturbing cause, 
which must ultimately and inevitably bring ruin among the 
heavenly bodies, if some counteracting agency be not exerted. 



172 the world's supposed eternity. 

Yet such a source of derangement exists in the supposed 
medium extending through all space, which has already- 
shown its retarding influence upon Enke's, Biela's, and Hal- 
ley's comets. And who can say that some of the vast peri- 
ods which geology discloses may not have been commensurate 
with those intervening between catastrophes among the heav- 
enly bodies as the result of the universal resisting ether ? 
At present, however, we can say only that we know such 
long periods have existed in geology, and probably in astron- 
omy. And their mere existence is fatal to the idea of the 
eternity of the world in its present state. 

If, then, geology can clearly demonstrate the present state 
of the globe to have had a beginning ; if she can show us 
the period, by fair induction, when one liquid, fiery ocean 
enveloped the whole earth ; if she. can show us five or six 
economies of organic life successively flourishing and passing 
away ; if she can trace man back to his origin at a com- 
paratively recent date ; if, in fact, she can show us that 
the most important operations on the globe, and the most 
complicated and exalted organic races, had a beginning ; 
and if astronomy affords glimpses of similar changes, — 
then why may we not safely leave the subject of the world's 
eternity an undecided question, consistently with the most 
perfect Theism ? If we can prove that the power, the wis- 
dom, and the benevolence of the Deity have again and again 
interfered with the regular sequence of nature's operations, 
and introduced new conditions and new and more perfect 
beings, by using the matter already in existence, what though 
we cannot, by the light of science, run back to the first pro- 
duction of matter itself? What though the atheist should 
here be allowed to maintain his favorite theory that matter 
never had a beginning ? What doctrine of natural religion 



CREATION OF MATTER. 173 

is thereby unfavorably affected, if we can only show the 
interposition of the Deity in all of matter's important modifi- 
cations ? Such an admission would not prove matter to be 
eternal, but only that science has not* yet placed within the 
reach of man the means of proving its non-eternity. And 
really, such an admission would be far more favorable to the 
cause of truth than to rely, as theologians have done, on 
metaphysical subtilties to prove that matter had a beginning. 
For the sceptical mind will not merely remain unconvinced 
by such arguments, but be very apt to draw the sweeping 
inference that all the doctrines of natural and revealed reli- 
gion rest on similar dreamy abstractions. 

But is natural theology in fact destitute of all satisfactory 
proof that the matter of the universe had a beginning ? Such 
proof, it seems to me, she will seek in vain in the wide fields 
of physical and mathematical science ; and the solution of 
the question which metaphysics offers, as we have seen, does 
not satisfy. But there are sources of evidence on this point 
which seem to me of the most satisfactory kind. 

In the first place, we may derive from science some pre- 
sumptive proof of a commencement of the matter of the 
universe. The fact that the organic races on the globe had 
a beginning affords such proof. For matter could not have 
originated itself; nor is there any proof of its eternal existence ; 
and to assume that it did eternally exist, without proof, is far 
more unphilosophical than to admit its origination in the divine 
will. For since God has. complete control over matter, it is 
probable that he created it with such properties as he wished 
it to possess. And furthermore, to the power and wisdom 
that could set in motion the heavenly bodies, and create and 
adapt existing organisms out of preexistent matter, we can 
assign no limits, and hence conclude them to be infinite. 
15* 



174 the world's supposed eterxity. 

Therefore they are sufficient to the production of matter, 
which could not have demanded more than infinite wisdom 
and power. 

Now, in confirmation of these presumptions, we may appeal 
to the Bible. It is true that writers have been accustomed 
to consider it contrary to sound logic to draw from revela- 
tion any support or illustrations of natural religion. But why 
should an historical fact possess less value, if transmitted to us 
through the channel of sacred, rather than profane, writers ? 
Now, it would be regarded as perfectly good reasoning to 
seize upon any facts stated by heathen philosophers and his- 
torians, illustrative of natural religion. But the Scriptures 
carry with them, to say the least, quite as strong evidence of 
their authenticity and claims to be credited, as any ancient 
uninspired writer. We place them on the same ground as 
any other history, and demand for them only that they should 
be believed so far as we have testimony to their authenticity. 
[f a man, after careful examination of their evidences, comes 
to the conclusion that they are mere fables, then to him their 
testimony is of no value to prove or illustrate any truth of 
natural religion. But if he is convinced that they are worthy 
of credence, then their statements may decide a point about 
which the light of nature leaves him in uncertainty. In this 
way the Bible is used by the natural theologian, just as he 
would employ any curious object in nature — say, the human 
hand, or the eye. These organs exist, and their mechanism 
is to be accounted for either with or without a God. And so 
the Bible exists, and its contents are to be accounted for ; and 
if they clearly evince the agency of a Deity, then we may use 
them, just as we would use the eye or the hand, to prove or 
illustrate important truths in natural theology. 

But the testimony of the Bible, as to the origin of the 



SCR1FTUHE TESTIMONY. 175 

world, is most explicit and decided. It declares that in the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth ; and that 
the worlds were formed by the word of God, so that the things 
which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 
The obvious meaning of this latter passage is, that the mate- 
rial universe was created out of nothing. (r« fj-ij (puwo/uevu.) 
How much more satisfactory this simple and consistent state- 
ment, than a volume of abstract argument to prove the non- 
eternity of the world ! 

Now, if the testimony of the Scriptures on all other points 
has been found correct, why should we not receive with un- 
hesitating credence, and even with joy, the sublime announce- 
ment with which that volume opens ? True, we are not com- 
pelled to admit this statement, in order to save Theism from 
refutation, because geology shows us the commencement of 
several economies on the globe, which point us to a divine 
Author. But the doctrine of matter's creation out of nothing 
gives a desirable completeness to the system. 

In looking back upon the subject, which has thus been dis- 
cussed, too briefly for its merits, but too prolixly for your 
patience, several important inferences force themselves upon 
our attention. 

And first, it furnishes a satisfactory reply to a well-known 
objection, otherwise unanswerable, against the argument from 
design in nature to prove the existence of a Deity. We pre- 
sent ten thousand examples of exquisite design and adaptation 
in nature to the atheist. He admits them all ; but says, it was 
always so, and therefore requires no other Deity but the power 
eternally inherent in nature. At your metaphysical replies 
to his objections he laughs ; but when you take him back on 
geological wings, and bid him gaze on man, just springing, 
with his lofty powers, from the plastic hands of his Creator, 



176 the world's supposed eternity. 

and then, still earlier, you point him to system after system of 
organic life starting up in glorious variety and beauty on the 
changing earth, and even still nearer the birth of time, you 
show him the globe, a glowing ocean of fire, swept of all 
organic life, he is forced to exclaim, " A God ! a personal 
God ! an infinitely wise and powerful God ! " What though 
he still clings to the notion of matter's eternity ? you have 
forced him to see the hand of Deity in its wonderful arrange- 
ments and metamorphoses ; the hand of such a Deity as might 
have brought it into existence in a moment, by the word of 
his power.* 

Secondly. The subject presents us with a new argument for 
the existence of a God, or rather a satisfactory modification 
of the argument from design. In that argument, as derived 
from other sciences, the Theist finds, indeed, multiplied and 
beautiful proofs of adaptation and apparent design ; but then he 
cannot, as already observed, from those sciences derive proof 
of the commencement either of matter or its arrangements ; 
and then, too, the sceptic, with plausible ingenuity, can take 
his stand upon law as the efficient agent in nature's move- 
ments and harmonies. But when geology shows us, not the 
commencement of matter, but of organism, and presents us 
with full systems of animals and plants springing out of inor- 
ganic elements, where is the law that exhibits even a tendency 
to such results .? Nothing can explain them but the law of 
miracles ; that is, creation by divine interposition. Thus is 
the idea of a Deity forced nakedly upon us, as the only pos- 
sible solution of the enigmas of creation. The metaphysical 

* The subject of this inference is treated with great ability and 
candor in the Biblotheca Sacra for November, 1849, by my friend and 
colleague, Rev. Joseph Haven, Jr., professor of intellectual and moral 
philosophy in Amherst College. 



GEOLOGY SLANDERED. 177 

Theist must waste half his strength in battling the questions 
about the beginning of matter, and the laws of matter; nor 
can he ever entirely dislodge the enemy from these strongholds 
of atheism. But the geological Theist takes us at once into a 
field where work has been done, which neither eternal law, 
nor eternal matter, but an infinite personal Deity only, could 
accomplish. 

In conclusion, I would merely refer to the interesting fact, 
that geology should prove almost the only science that pre- 
sents us with exigencies demanding the interposition of cre- 
ating power. And yet, up to the present time, geology has 
been looked upon by many Christian writers with jealous eye, 
because it was supposed to teach the world's eternity, and 
so to account for natural changes by catastrophes and the 
gradual operation of existing agencies, as to render a Deity 
unnecessary, either for the creation or regulation of the world. 
One of these writers has even most uncharitably and unrea- 
sonably said, that " the mineral geology, considered as a sci- 
ence, can do as well without God (though in a question con- 
cerning the origin of the earth) as Lucretius did." — Granville 
Penn, Comparative Estimate, &c. — How much ground there 
is for such an allegation, let the developments made in this 
lecture, answer. Surely, in this case, geology has followed 
the directions of the Oriental poet : — 

•« Learn from yon Orient shell to love thy foe, 
And strew with pearls the hand that brings thee woe ; 
Free, like yon rock, from base, vindictive pride, 
Emblaze with gems the wrist that rends thy side. 
Mark where yon tree rewards the stony shower 
With fruit nectareous or the balmy flower. 
All nature calls aloud, — • Shall man do less 
Than heal the smitor, and the railcr bless ? ' " 



178 the world's supposed eternity. 

Misunderstood or misinterpreted though this science has 
been, she now offers her aid to fortify some of the weakest 
outposts of religion. And thus shall it ever be with all true 
science. Twin sister of natural and revealed religion, and 
of heavenly birth, she will never belie her celestial origin, nor 
cease to sympathize with all that emanates from the same 
pure home. Human ignorance and prejudice may for a time 
seem to have divorced what God has joined together. But 
human ignorance and prejudice shall at length pass away, and 
then science and religion shall be seen blending their parti- 
colored rays into one beautiful bow of light, linking heaven 
to earth and earth to heaven. 



(179) 



LECTURE VI. 
GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF THE DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

The subject of the present lecture is the divine benevo- 
lence, as taught by geology. But what connection, it will be 
asked, can there be between the history of rocks and the be- 
nevolence of God ? Do not the leading points of that history 
consist of terrible catastrophes, aqueous or igneous, by which 
the crust of the earth has been dislocated and upheaved, 
mountains lifted up and overturned, the dry land inundated, 
now by scorching lava, and now by the ocean, sweeping from 
its face all organic life, and entombing its inhabitants in a 
stony grave ? Who can find the traces of benevolence in the 
midst of such desolation and death ? Is it not the very place 
where the objector would find arguments to prove the malev- 
olence, certainly the vindictive justice, of the Deity ? 

This, I am aware, is a not unnatural prima facie view of 
this subject. But it is a false one. Geology does furnish 
some very striking evidence of divine benevolence ; and if 
I can show this, and from so unpromising a field gather de- 
cisive arguments on this subject, they will be so much clear 
gain to the cause of Theism. This is what, therefore, I shall 
now attempt to do. 

In the first place, I derive an argument for the divine be- 
nevolence from the manner in which soils are formed by the 
disintegration and decomposition of rocks. 

Chemical analysis shows us that the mineral constituents 



180 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

of rocks are essentially the same as those of soils ; and that 
the latter differ from the former, in a pulverized state, only 
in containing animal and vegetable matter. Hence we cannot 
doubt but the soils originated from the rocks. And, in fact, the 
process of their production is continually going on under our 
eyes. Wherever the rocks are exposed to atmospheric agen- 
cies, they are seen to crumble down ; and, in fact, most of 
them, having been long exposed, are now covered with a 
deposit of their own ruins, forming a soil over them. This 
process is in part decomposition and in part disintegration ; 
and as we look upon rocks thus wasting away, we are apt to 
be impressed with the idea *hat it is an instance of decay in 
nature's works, which, instead of indicating benevolence, 
can hardly be reconciled with divine wisdom. But when we 
learn that this is the principal mode in which soils are pro- 
duced, that without it vegetation could not be sustained, and 
that a world like ours without plants must also be without 
animals, this apparent ruin puts on the aspect of benevolence 
and wise design. 

My second argument in proof of the divine benevolence is 
derived from the disturbed, broken, and overturned condition 
of the earth's crust. 

To the casual observer, the rocks have the appearance of 
being lifted up, shattered, and overturned. But it is only the 
geologist who knows the vast extent of this disturbance. He 
never finds crystalline, non-fossiliferous rocks, which have not 
been more or less removed from their original position ; and 
usually he finds them to have been thrown up by some 
powerful agency into almost every possible position. The 
older fossiliferous strata exhibit almost equal evidence of the 
operation of a powerful disturbing force, though sometimes 
found in their original horizontal position. The newer rocks 



BROKEN AND FOLDED STRATA. 181 

have experienced less of this agency, though but few of them 
have not been elevated or dislocated. Mountainous countries 
exhibit this action most strikingly. There it is shown some- 
times on a magnificent scale. Entire mountains in the Alps, 
for instance, appear not only to have been lifted up from the 
ocean's depths, but to have been actually thrown over, so as 
to bring the lowest and oldest rocks at the top of the series. 
The extensive range of mountains in this country, com- 
mencing in Canada, and embracing the Green Mountains of 
Vermont, the Highlands of New York, and most of the 
Alleghany chain as far as Alabama, a distance of some 
twelve hundred miles, has also been lifted up, and some of 
the strata, by a lateral force, folded together, and then thrown 
over, so as now to occupy an inverted position. Let us now 
see wherein this agency exhibits benevolence. 

If these strata had remained horizontal, as they were origi- 
nally deposited, it is obvious that all the valuable ores, min- 
erals, and rocks, which man could not have discovered by 
direct excavation, must have remained forever unknown to 
him. Now, man has very seldom penetrated the rocks below 
the depth of half a mile, and rarely so deep as that; whereas, 
by the elevations, dislocations, and overturnings that have 
been described, he obtains access to all deposits of useful 
substances that lie within fifteen or twenty miles of the sur- 
face ; and many are thus probably brought to light from a 
greater depth. He is indebted, then, to this disturbing agency 
for nearly all the useful metals, coal, rock salt, marble, gyp- 
sum, and other useful minerals ; and when we consider how 
necessary these substances are to civilized society, who will 
doubt that it was a striking act of benevolence which thus 
introduced disturbance, dislocation, and apparent ruin into 
the earth's crust ? 

16 



182 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

Another decided advantage resulting from this disturbing 
agency is the formation of valleys. 

If we suppose the strata spread uniformly over the earth's 
entire surface, then the ocean must envelop the whole globe. 
But, admitting such interruptions in the strata to exist as 
would leave cavities, where the waters might be gathered 
together into one place, and the dry land appear, still that 
dry land must form only an unbroken level. Streams of 
water could not exist on such a continent, because they de- 
pend upon inequalities of surface ; and whatever water existed 
must have formed only stagnant ponds, and the morasses 
which would be the consequence would load the air with 
miasms fatal to life ; so that we may safely pronounce the 
world uninhabitable by natures adapted to the present earth. 
But such, essentially, must have been the state of things, had 
not internal forces elevated and fractured the earth's crust. 
For that was the origin of most of our valleys — of all the 
larger valleys, indeed, which checker the surface of primary 
countries. Most of them have been modified by subsequent 
agencies ; but their leading features, their outlines, have been 
the result of those internal disturbances which spread desola- 
tion over the surface. We are apt to look upon such an 
agency as an exhibition of retributive justice, rather than of 
benevolence. And yet that admirable system for the circula- 
tion of water, whereby the rain that falls upon the surface is 
conveyed to the ocean, whence it is returned by evaporation, 
depends upon it. It imparts, to all organic nature, life, health, 
and activity; and had it not thus ridged up the surface, stag- 
nation and death must have reigned over all the earth. In 
the unhealthiness of low, flat, countries, at present, we see 
the terrible condition of things in a world without valleys. 
Can we doubt, then, that it was the hand of benevolence that 



NATURAL SCENERY. 183 

drove the ploughshare of ruin through the earth's crust, and 
ridged up its surface into a thousand fantastic forms ? 

It will more deeply impress us with this benevolence to 
remember that most of the sublime and the beautiful in the 
scenery of a country depends upon this disturbing agency. 
Beautiful as vegetable nature is, how tame is a landscape 
where only a dead level is covered with it, and no swelling 
hills, or jutting rocks, or murmuring waters, relieve the monot- 
onous scene ' And how does the interest increase with the 
wildness and ruggedness of the surface, and reach its maxi- 
mum only where the disturbance and dislocation have been 
most violent ! 

Some may, perhaps, doubt whether it can have been one 
of the objects of divine benevolence and wisdom, in arranging 
the surface of this world, so to construct and adorn it as to 
gratify a taste for fine scenery. But I cannot doubt it. I see 
not else why nature every where is fitted up in a lavish man- 
ner with all the elements of the sublime and beautiful, nor 
why there are powers in the human soul so intensely gratified 
in contact with those elements, unless they were expressly 
adapted for one another by the Creator. Surely natural 
scenery does afford to the unsophisticated soul one of the 
richest and purest sources of enjoyment to be found on earth. 
If this be doubted by any one, it must be because he has never 
been placed in circumstances to call into exercise his natural 
love of the beautiful and the sublime in creation. Let me 
persuade such a one, at least in imagination, to break away 
from the slavish routine of business or pleasure, and in the 
height of balmy summer to accompany me to a few spots, 
where his soul will swell with new and strong emotions, if 
his natural sensibilities to the grand and beautiful have not 
become thoroughly dead within him. 



184 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

We might profitably pause for a moment at this enchanting 
season of the year, (June,) and look abroad from that gentle 
elevation on which we dwell, now all mantled over with a 
flowery carpet, wafting its balmy odors into our studies. Can 
any thing be more delightful than the waving forests, with 
their dense and deep green foliage, interspersed with grassy 
and sunny fields and murmuring streamlets, which spread all 
around us ? How rich the graceful slopes of yonder distant 
mountains, which bound the Connecticut on either side ! 
How imposing Mount Sugar Loaf on the north, with its red- 
belted and green-tufted crown, and Mettawampe too, with its 
rocky terraces on the one side, and its broad slopes of un- 
broken forest on the other ! Especially, how beautifully and 
even majestically does the indented summit of Mount Hol- 
yoke repose against the summer sky ! What sunrises and 
sunsets do we here witness, and what a multitude of permu- 
tations and combinations pass before us during the day, as 
we watch from hour to hour one of the loveliest landscapes 
of New England ! 

Let us now turn our steps to that huge pile of mountains 
called the White Hills of New Hampshire. We will ap- 
proach them through the valley of the Saco River, and at 
the distance of thirty miles they will be seen looming up in 
the horizon, with the clouds reposing beneath their naked 
heads. As the observer approaches them, the sides of the 
valley will gradually close in upon him, and rise higher and 
higher, until he will find their naked granitic summits almost 
jutting over his path, to the height of several thousand feet, 
seeming to form the very battlements of heaven. Now and 
then will he see the cataract leaping hundreds of feet down 
their sides, and the naked path of some recent landslip, 
which carried death and desolation in its track. From this 



THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. 185 

deep and wild chasm he will at length emerge, and climb the 
vast ridge, until he has seen the forest trees dwindle, and at 
length disappear ; and standing upon the naked summit, im- 
mensity seems stretched out before him. But he has not yet 
reached the highest point ; and far in the distance, and far 
above him, Mount Washington seems to repose in awful 
majesty against the heavens. Turning his course thither, he 
follows the narrow and naked ridge over one peak after 
another, first rising upon Mount Pleasant, then Mount Frank- 
lin, and then Mount Monroe, each lifting him higher, and 
making the sea of mountains around him more wide and bil- 
lowy, and the yawning gulfs on either side more profound 
and awful, so that every moment his interest deepens, and 
reaches not its climax till he stands upon Mount Washington, 
when the vast panorama is completed, and the world seems 
spread out at his feet. Yet it does not seem to be a peopled 
world, for no mighty city lies beneath him. Indeed, were it 
there, he would pass it almost unnoticed. For why should he 
regard so small an object as a city, when the world is before 
him ? — a world of mountains, bearing the impress of God's 
own hand, standing in solitary grandeur, just as he piled them 
up in primeval ages, and stretching away on every side as 
far as the eye can reach. On that pinnacle of the northern 
regions no sound of man or beast breaks in upon the awful 
stillness which reigns there, and which seems to bring the 
soul into near communion with the Deity. It is, indeed, the 
impressive Sabbath of nature ; and the soul feels a delightful 
awe, which can never be forgotten. Gladly would it linger 
there for hours, and converse with the mighty and the holy 
thoughts which come crowding into it ; and it is only when 
the man looks at the rapidly declining sun that he is roused 
from his revery and commences his descending march. 
16* 



186 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

Let such a man next accompany me to Niagara. We will 
pass by all minor cataracts, and place ourselves at once on 
the margin of one that knows no rival. Let not the man take 
a hasty glance, and in disappointment conclude that he shall 
find no interest and no sublimity there. Let him go to the 
edge of the precipice, and watch the deep waters as they roll 
over, and, changing their sea-green brightness for a fleecy 
white, pour down upon the rocks beneath, and dash back again 
in spray high in the air. Let him go to the foot of the sheet, 
and look upward till the cataract swells into its proper size. 
Let him, on the Canada shore, take in the whole breadth of 
the cataract at once ; and as he stands musing, let him listen 
to the deep thunderings of the falling sheet. Let him go to 
Table Rock, and creep forward to its jutting edge, and gaze 
steadily into the foaming and eddying waters so far beneath 
him, until his nerves thrill and vibrate, and he involuntarily 
shrinks back, exclaiming, — 

"How dreadful 
And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low ! 

I'll look no more, 
Lest my brain turn." 

Next, let him stand upon that rock till the sun approaches 
so near the western horizon that a glorious bow, forming an 
almost entire circle on the cataract and the spray, shall clothe 
the scene with unearthly beauty, and, in connection with the 
emerald green of the waters, give it a brilliancy fully equal to 
its sublimity. And finally, if he would add the emotions of 
moral to natural sublimity, let him follow to Ontario, the deep 
gulf through which all these waters flow, and, gathering up the 
evidence, which he will find too strong to resist, that they 
themselves have worn that gulf backward seven miles, let 



MOUNTAINS OF WALKS. 187 

him try the rules of geological arithmetic to see if he can 
reach the period of its commencement. Surely, when he 
reviews the emotions of that day, he will never again doubt 
that the magnificent scenery of our world is the result of be- 
nevolent design on the part of the Creator. 

If, now, we cross the Atlantic, we shall easily find scenes 
of natural beauty and sublimity, that have long elicited the 
wonder and delight of thousands of genuine taste. Shall we 
turn our steps first to the valleys and mountains of Wales ? 
To an American eye, indeed, they lack one important feature, 
in being so destitute of trees. But then their wild aspect, 
their ragged and rocky outlines, present a picture of the sub- 
limity of desolation rarely equalled. And as you ascend the 
mountains, — Snowdon, for instance, the highest of them all, 
— you find their summits, not rounded, as our American moun- 
tains, by former drift agency, nor forming continuous ridges, 
but shooting up in ragged peaks and edges, as if they formed 
the teeth of mother earth ; although, in fact, it was the tooth 
of time that has gnawed them into their present forms. As 
you approach the summit, you feel animated in anticipation 
of the splendid prospect about to open upon you. But the 
clouds begin to gather, and soon envelop the mountain top ; 
and though you reach the pinnacle, the dense mist limits your 
vision to a circle of a few rods in diameter. But ere long the 
vapor begins to break away, and the lofty cliffs and deep cav- 
erns around you are revealed. Now and then, the lake, so often 
found in the recesses of these mountains, is half seen through 
the opening cloud, and, magnified by the obscurity, it seems 
more distant and grand than if distinctly visible. Gradually 
the clouds open in various directions, disclosing gulf after 
gulf, lake after lake, mountain after mountain, and, finally, the 
Irish Channel, dotted with sails ; and the whole scene lies 



188 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

spread out before you in glories that cannot be described. 
You are standing upon the pinnacle of England, and you feel 
as if almost the whole of it lay within the circle of vision. 
After enjoying so splendid a scene, you are thankful that the 
cloud hid it at first from your sight, and so much enhanced 
your pleasure by opening vista after vista, till the whole be- 
came one magnificent circle of picturesque beauty and sub- 
limity.* 

To relieve the mind after gazing long on such scenes of 
rugged grandeur, let us turn our course southerly, and follow 
down the romantic banks of the Wye, where every turn pre- 
sents some new beauties, occasionally disclosing the ruins of 
some old castle, or magnificent abbey, (Tinton,) and at length 
Bristol, with its aristocratic adjunct, Clifton, turns your thoughts 
from the works of nature to those of man. And yet, even 
Clifton's elegant Crescent is but a meagre show by the side 
of the magnificent gorge which the Avon has cut in the rocks 
just before it enters Bristol Channel. 

Passing over to the Isle of Wight, and traversing its shores, 
we shall witness many unique examples of natural beauty, 
swelling sometimes into sublimity, — such are the chalk cliffs 
near its western extremity, from two hundred to six hundred 
feet high, — sometimes hollowed out into magnificent domes, 
and the pillars of chalk, called Needles, in the midst of the 
sea, alive with sea gulls and cormorants, and forming the 

* In this description I have attempted to give exactly the experi- 
ence of myself and John Tappan, Esq., with our wives, who ascended 
Snowdon in June, 1850. A few days after, we ascended Cader Idris, 
another mountain of Wales, near Dolgelly, where the views were 
perhaps equally wild and sublime, with the addition of a vast num- 
ber of trap columns, and a pseudo- crater, with its jagged and frown- 
ing sides. 



HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND. 189 

remnants of the chalk bridge that once united the island to 
England. There, too, Alum Bay, with its many-colored 
strata of clay, unites the interesting in geology with the pic- 
turesque in scenery. 

Along the southern coast, also, are the stupendous cliffs 
and the romantic under-cliffs, as well as the ragged chines, 
where an almost tropical climate attracts the invalid, while the 
cool sea breezes draw thither the wealthy and the fashionable. 

But if sublime scenery pleases us more, we must traverse 
the Highlands of Scotland, — 

" Land of brown heath and shaggy furze," 

land of lofty and naked mountains, embosoming lakes of great 
beauty, and full of historic and poetic interest. 

Passing over Loch Lomond, the queen of Scottish lakes, 
you go through the long shadow of Ben Lomond, propped 
by many lesser mountains. Rising into the Highlands, the 
sterility and wildness increase, and reach their maximum in 
Glencoe, whose wildness and sublimity are indeed indescriba- 
ble ; but if seen, they can never be forgotten. Still farther 
ncrth, Ben Nevis lifts its uncovered head above all other 
mountains in the British Isles; so high, indeed,- that often, 
during the whole summer, it retains a portion of its snowy, 
wintry mantle. 

Yet farther north, we come to the unique terraces, called 
the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, formerly supposed to be the 
work of giants ; but now, that they are known to be the prod- 
uct of nature, proving not only objects of great scenographi- 
cal interest, but a problem of special importance and diffi- 
culty in geology. 

If we should pass from Scotland to the north-east part of 
Ireland, taking StafFa in our way r we should find in the basaltic 



190 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

columns of Fingal's Cave, and the Giant's Causeway, what 
seems, at first view, to be stupendous human structures, or 
rather the architecture of giants. But you soon find it to be 
only an example — 

" Where nature works as if defying art, 
And, in defiance of her rival powers, 
By these fortuitous and random strokes, 
Performing such inimitable feats, 
As she, with all her rules, can never reach." 

Let any one sail along the coast for a few miles at the 
Giant's Causeway, enter some of the deep and echoing cav- 
erns, overhung by the basaltic mass, and see the columns rising 
tier above tier, sometimes four hundred feet in height, and 
assuming every wild and fantastic shape ; or let him walk 
over the acres of columns, whose tops are as perfectly polyg- 
onal and as accurately fitted to one another as the most 
skilful architect could make them, and he will confess how 
superior Nature is, when she would present a model for human 
imitation ; and how with accurate system she can combine the 
wildest disorder, and thus delight by symmetry, while she 
awes by sublimity. 

Let us next pass over to continental Europe. We have reached 
the Rhine at Bonn, and the steamboat takes us at once into 
the midst of the romantic Drachenfels, or seven mountains, 
the result of volcanic agency, and still presenting more or less 
of the conical outline peculiar almost to modern volcanoes. 
These are the commencement of the romantic scenery of the 
Rhine. From thence to Bingen, some sixty or seventy 
miles, that river has cut its way through hills and mountains, 
sometimes rising one thousand feet. Along their base, the 
inhabitants have planted many a well-known town, while old 



THE RHINE AND SWITZERLAND. 191 

castles, half crumbled down, recall continually the history of 
feudal ages ; and here, too, springs up a multitude of remem- 
brances of startling events in more recent times. The mind, 
indeed, finds itself drawn at one moment to some historical 
monument, and the next to scenery of surpassing beauty or 
sublimity ; now the bold, overhanging rock, now the deep 
recess, now the towering mountain, now the quiet dell with 
its romantic villages ; while every where on the north bank, 
the vine-clad terraces show us what wonders human industry 
can accomplish. 

Nor does the Rhine lose its interest when we have emerged 
from its Ghor into its more open valley, from Bingen to 
Basle, in Switzerland. On its right bank, the Vosges Moun- 
tains, and on its left, the Black Forest, with not infrequent 
volcanic summits, afford a fine resting-place for the eye, as 
the rail car bears us rapidly over the rich intervening level. 
Or if we turn aside, — as to Heidelberg, on the Neckar, — 
what can be a more splendid sight than to stand by the old 
castle above the town, and look down the valley as the sun is 
sinking in the west ! 

But after all, it is in Switzerland, and there only, that we 
meet with the climax of scenographical wonders. Nowhere 
else can we find such lakes in the midst of such mountains ; 
such pleasant valleys bordered by such stupendous hills; such 
gorges, and precipices, and passes, and especially such gla- 
ciers ; such avalanches, such snow-capped mountains, while 
vegetation at their base, and far up their sides, is fresh and 
luxuriant. * 

Embark, for instance, at Zurich, and, crossing its beautiful 
lake, direct your course towards Mount Righi. As the heavy 
diligence lifts you above the lake, you begin to catch glimpses 
of the grandeur of the Swiss mountains to the south, piercing 



192 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OP DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

the clouds far off. Passing the romantic Zug, you come to 
the valley between the Rossberg and the Righi, and the 
denuded face of the former tells you whence came the mass 
of ruins over which you clamber, and which buried the villages 
of Goldau, Bussingen, and Rothen several hundred feet deep 
with blocks of stone and soil. Long and steep is your ascent 
of Righi, nearly six thousand feet above the sea. But the 
views you obtain by the way become wider and grander at 
every step. Reaching the summit near sunset, you may be 
gratified by a panoramic view of a large part of Switzerland, 
embracing its wildest and grandest scenery. Yet, if the 
clouds prevent, you wait for the morning, in the hope of being 
more fortunate. With the earliest dawn you awake, and 
proceed to the summit of the mountain, where hundreds, 
perhaps, from all civilized lands, are congregated, to witness 
the rising of the sun. But a dense cloud envelops the 
mountain, and hope almost dies within you. Wait, however, 
a few moments, and the rising sun will depress the clouds 
below the mountain's summit, and a scene of glory shall 
open upon you, which can never be erased from your mem- 
ory. Look now, for the sun's first rays have shed a flood of 
glory over the clouds which now fill the valleys beneath youi 
feet. A fleecy white predominates ; but the colors of the 
prism tinge the edges of the clouds, and no part of the solid 
earth rises above them, save the pinnacle on which you 
stand, and to the south the higher peaks of the Bernese Alps, 
— the Jungfrau, the Eiger, the Shreckhorn, and the Wetter- 
horn, — covered with snow and glaciers, and* seeming too 
pure to belong to earth. Indeed, the whole scene seemed to 
me to be unearthly ; the fittest emblem that my eyes ever rested 
upon of celestial scenes ; and one cannot repress the desire, 
when looking upon it, to be borne away on wings over the 



MONT BLANC. 193 

glorious scene, and to repose for a time upon the gorgeous 
bed, forgetful of the lower world. Yet when, at length, the 
clouds begin to break away, and disclose the deep valleys 
and blue lakes, — places made immortal by the deeds of such 
patriots and reformers as Tell and Zuinglius, — we feel again 
the attractions of earth ; and as we descend to Lake Lucerne, 
we have before us such scenery as scarcely any other part 
of the world can furnish. And these scenes continue, in 
ever-changing aspects, wherever we wander along this en- 
chanting lake ; and though the exhausted brain fails at length, 
the objects of interest do not. 

From this lake we might turn our course easterly, and 
soon find ourselves amid the glacial regions of the Oberland 
Alps — scenes full of deep and thrilling interest. But let us 
rather turn southerly, and, following down the great valley of 
Switzerland, find our way among the Alps of Savoy, where the 
same phenomena attain their maximum of interest and sub- 
limity, and the great monarch of the Alps is seen, wearing 
his hoary crown. As we pass along towards Lake Lehman, 
if the air be clear, the Bernese Alps loom up in unrivalled 
majesty; and as we sail over Lake Lehman, Mont Blanc, with 
some of its nearly equal associates, shows its distant yet im- 
pressive form. Passing without notice the almost unrivalled 
beauties of Lehman, and following up the Arve through its stu- 
pendous gorges, we catch views of Mont Blanc, as we approach 
it, that possess overpowering sublimity. At length, Chamouny 
is reached — a lovely vale in the midst of Alpine wonders. 
From thence we first ascend the Flegere, thirty-five hundred 
feet above the valley, and sixty-five hundred above the 
ocean ; and there we get a fine view of Mont Blanc and the 
Aiguilles, or Needles. Here distances are vastly diminished 
to the eye, and you seem in near proximity even with Mont 
17 



194 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

Blanc ; and, in fact, should any adventurous visitors have 
reached the top of that mountain, a good spy-glass will show 
them from this spot.* 

On the opposite side of the valley from the Flegere, and 
at about the same height, is Montanvert, the most convenient 
spot for traversing the glacier called the Mef de Glace. If, 
however, one would see the lower extremity of that glacier, 
and the Arveron issuing from it, he must pass along the right 
hand side of the stream, and then he can follow up the 
glacier to Montanvert ; and strange would it be if, in doing 
this, he should not hear and see the frequent avalanche. 

We have now reached the field where everlasting war is 
carried on between heat and cold, summer and winter. Below 
us, verdure clothes the valleys, and climbs up the slopes of 
the hills; and there the shepherd watches his flocks. Above 
us there are fields of ice stretching many a league, save 
where some needle-shaped summit of naked rock, too steep 
for snow to rest upon, shoots up in lonely grandeur thousands 
of feet, and defies the raging elements. From these oceans 
of ice shoot forth down the valleys enormous glaciers, appear- 
ing like vast rivers of ice, winding among the hills, and 
pushing, at the rate of a few inches each day, far into regions 

* When I visited this spot, in September, 1850, I was so fortunate 
as to get sight of a party that had just commenced the descent from 
the summit of Mont Blanc. To the naked eye they were invisible, 
but the whole train could be distinctly seen through a telescope. 
This was the third party that had ascended that mountain in the 
summer of 1850. I doubt not that the dangers have been exagger 
ated, and that the excursion will become common. 

There are other points of great interest around Chamouny, whic 
I have not noticed, some of which I visited, but not all. I ha^ 
mentioned only the most common. 



MOUNT ARARAT. 195 

of vegetation ; one year encroaching upon the shepherd's 
pasture ground, and anon, by the access of heat, driven back 
towards the summit; hurling down, from time to time, as 
they push forward, the thundering avalanche. 

Without difficulty at Montanvert we can enter upon the 
glacier, and in spite of the deep crevasse, and the elemental 
war, which always rages in those lofty regions, we may make 
our way to their source. Nay, human feet, as already 
suggested, have pressed even the top of Mont Blanc ; and 
should we reach this summit of the Alps, we should stand 
upon the loftiest point of Europe, and behold a scene which 
but few eyes ever have, or ever will, rest upon. We should 

" breathe 
The difficult air of the iced mountain's top, 
Where the birds dare not build, nor insect's wing 
Flit o'er the herbless granite." 

We should, in fact, have reached the climax of the sublime 
in natural scenery. 

Thus far I have described, almost without exception, only 
what , I have seen. But let us now venture into regions 
where we have only the description of others to guide us. 
Let us enter the region of ancient Armenia, a country com- 
posed of wide plains, bounded and intersected by precipitous 
mountains. As we journeyed south-easterly over one of 
these plains, a remarkable conical summit would arrest our 
attention, at the distance of sixty miles. Day after day, as 
we approached, it would creep up higher and higher above 
the horizon, developing its commanding features, and rivetting 
more intensely the attention upon it. As we came near its 
base, we should see that its top rose far into the region of 
eternal ice, whose glassy surface would reflect the light like 



196 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

a mirror, and whose lower edge had shot forth enormous 
glaciers as far as the heat would allow them to descend. In 
the plain below, we should be sweltering in a tropical heat ; 
but the same sun that melted us would make no impression 
upon the wintry crown of the mountain. We could not keep 
our eyes or thoughts turned away from an object so sublime. 
And it would deepen the impression to learn that this gigan- 
tic cone, shooting up three and a half miles, was once a vol- 
cano ; and still more would it deepen our interest to learn 
that this is the mountain which universal tradition in that 
region regards as the Mount Ararat, the resting-place of the 
ark. It would strike us forcibly to realize that what seems to 
us now to be a pillar of heaven, was the patriarch's stepping- 
stone from the antediluvian into the postdiluvian world. 

One more example may suffice. Go with me to the Sand- 
wich Islands, and we shall get an impressive glimpse of the 
principal agency by which the earth's crust has been ridged, 
furrowed, and dislocated. As we land upon Hawaii, we per- 
ceive it to be composed mainly of lava of no very ancient 
date. We ascend a lofty plateau, and many a league in ad- 
vance of us we see a column of smoke rising from a vast 
plain. Directing our course thither, while yet some miles 
from it, we descend a steep slope to a broad terrace, and then 
another slope to a second terrace. These slopes and terraces 
extend circularly around the pillar of smoke like the seats of 
a vast amphitheatre. 

Coming near to this column, our steps are arrested on the 
margin of a vast gulf, fifteen hundred feet deep, and from 
eight to ten miles in circumference, whose bottom is the seat 
of the most remarkable volcano on the globe; — I mean 
Kilauea. Wait here till night closes around us, and we shall 
witness a scene of awful sublimity. Over the immense 



VOLCANO OF KILAVEA. 197 

area of that gulf will the volcanic agency beneath be exerted. 
Ever and anon, and mingling in strange discord, will hissings 
and groanings, mutterings and thunderings, be heard rolling 
from side to side, and making the earth tremble around. 
Then from one and another volcanic cone — perhaps from 
fifty — will the glowing lava burst forth ; red-hot stones will 
be driven furiously upward ; vapor, and smoke, and flames 
will be poured out, and the dark and jagged sides of that vast 
furnace will glow with unearthly splendor ; and here and 
there will lakes of liquid lava appear, one or two miles in 
extent, heaving up their billows, and dashing their fiery spray 
high into the air. O, there is not on earth a livelier emblem 
of the world of despair ; and yet we know it is not the lake 
which burneth with fire and brimstone, nor the abode of lost 
spirits. We know it to be only one of the safety-valves of 
our globe, and an exhibition of that mighty agency within 
the globe which has heaved and dislocated its crust ; and, 
therefore, as we gaze upon the scene, and forget our fatigue 
and sleep, we experience only the emotions of awful sublim- 
ity, which can hardly fail to rise into adoration of that infinite 
Being who can say, even to this agency, Thus far shalt thou 
go, and no farther. 

These are samples only of those delightful emotions 
which he experiences, who possesses a taste for natural 
scenery. And kindred emotions will be awakened within 
him, wherever he wanders among the works of God. They 
form some of the purest and most satisfying pleasures which 
this world affords. They constitute pleasant oases along 
the dreary journey of life ; and so deeply does memory 
engrave them on her tablet, that no change of time or cir- 
cumstances can hide them from our view. Now, it is obvi- 
ous that if the Author of nature and of the human soul had 
17* 



198 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

been malevolent, instead of making every thing which man 
meets in creation "beauty to his eye, and music to his ear," he 
would have made all offensive and painful. Instead of the de- 
lightful emotions of beauty and sublimity which now rise within 
us as we open our eyes upon nature, feelings of aversion and 
fear would haunt us. Every sound would have been discord- 
ant, and every sight terrific. He could not have been even 
indifferent to our happiness, when he commissioned those des^ 
olating agencies of nature, fire and water, to ridge up ai,d 
furrow out the earth's surface as the groundwork of the future 
landscape. For he has taken care that the result should be a 
scene productive of pleasure only to the soul that is in a 
healthy state. Benevolence only, infinite benevolence, could 
have done this. 

My third argument in favor of the divine benevolence is 
founded on the arrangements for the distribution of water on 
the globe. 

We should expect on so uneven a surface as the earth pre- 
sents, that this element, which forms the liquid nourishment 
of all organic life, and which in many other ways seems in- 
dispensable, must be very unequally distributed, and fail en- 
tirely in many places ; and yet we find it in almost every spot 
where man erects his habitation. And those places where 
there is a deficiency are usually extended plains ; not, as we 
should expect, the mountainous regions. The latter are usu- 
ally well watered ; and this is accomplished in three ways. 
In the first place, in most mountainous countries, the strata 
are so much tilted up, as to prevent the water from running 
off. In the second place, the pervious strata are frequently 
interrupted by faults sometimes filled by impervious matter. 
In the third place, the comminuted materials that cover the 
rocks as soils, are often so fine, or of such a nature, as to 



ARTESIAN WELLS. 199 

prevent the passage of water; and thus much of the water 
that falls upon elevated land remains there, while enough 
percolates through the pervious materials to water the valleys 
and supply the streams. These carry it to the lakes and the 
ocean, where it is returned by evaporation in the form of 
clouds, and thus an admirable system of circulation is kept 
up, whereby this essential element is purified, and conveyed 
to every part of the surface where man or beast require it. 

There is one recent discovery, which deserves notice here, 
because it depends upon the geological structure of the earth. 
When pervious and impervious strata alternate, and are con- 
siderably inclined, water may be brought from great depths 
by hydrostatic pressure, if the impervious stratum be bored 
through and the water-bearing deposit be reached. A per- 
petual fountain may thus be produced, and water be obtained 
in a region naturally deficient in it. An Artesian fountain 
of this description, in the suburbs of Paris, has been brought 
from the enormous depth of eighteen hundred feet ! * 

Now, just consider that to deprive the earth of water is to 
deprive it of inhabitants, and you cannot but see in the 
means by which it is so widely, nay, almost universally, dif- 
fused, and made to circulate for purification, — the most de- 
cided marks of divine benevolence. Why is it not as strik- 
ing as the curious means by which the blood and the sap of 
animals and plants are sent to every part of the system to 
supply its waste, and give it greater development ? 

* In September, 1850, I visited this well, and found the water run- 
ning still, at the rate of six hundred and sixty gallons per minute at 
the surface, and half that amount at the top of a tube one hundred 
and twelve feet high, from whence it could be carried to any part of 
Paris ; and, in fact, does supply some of the streets. I tasted the 
water, and found it pleasant, though warm, (84 deg. Fahrenheit.) 



200 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

I derive a fourth geological argument for the henevolence 
of the Deity, from the manner in which the metallic ores are 
distributed through the earth? & crust. 

It can hardly be doubted, by the geologist, that nearly every 
part of the earth's crust, and its interior too, have been some 
time or other in a melted state. Now, as the metals and their 
ores are usually heavier than other rocks, we should expect 
that they would have accumulated at the centre of the globe, 
and have been enveloped by the rocks so as to have been 
forever inaccessible to man. And the very great weight of 
the central parts of the earth — almost twice that of granite -— 
leads naturally to the conclusion that the heavier metals may 
be accumulated there, though this is by no means a certain 
conclusion ; since at the depth of thirty-four miles air would 
be so condensed by the pressure of the superincumbent mass 
as to be as heavy as water ; water at the depth of three hun- 
dred and sixty-two miles would become as heavy as quick- 
silver ; and at the centre steel would be compressed into one 
fourth, and stone into one eighth, of its bulk at the surface. 
Still it is most probable that the materials naturally the heav- 
iest would first seek the centre. And yet, by means of sub- 
limation, and expansion by internal heat, or the segregating 
power of galvanic action, or of some other agents, enough of 
the metals is protruded towards the surface, and diffused 
through the rocks in beds, or veins, so as to be accessible to 
human industry. Here, then, we find divine benevolence, 
apparently in opposition to gravity, providing for human 
comfort. 

I have said that these metals were accessible to human in- 
dustry. And it does require a great deal of labor, and calls 
into exercise man's highest ingenuity to obtain them. They 
might have been spread in immense masses over the surface : 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE METALS. 201 

they might all have been reduced to a metallic state in the 
great furnace, which we have reason to suppose is always 
in blast, within the earth. But then there would have been 
no requisition upon the exertion and energy of man. And to 
have these called into exercise is an object of greater impor- 
tance to society than to supply it with the metals. God, there- 
fore, has so distributed the ores as to stimulate man to explore 
and reduce them, while he has placed so many difficulties in 
the way as to demand much mental and physical effort for 
their removal. Man now, therefore, receives a double benefit. 
While the metals themselves are of immense service, the dis- 
cipline of body and mind requisite for obtaining them is of 
still greater value. This is the combined result of infinite 
wisdom and benevolence. 

If I mistake not, there is such a relation between the amount 
of useful metals and the wants of society as could have re- 
suited only from divine benevolence. The metal most widely 
diffused, and the only one occurring in all the rock forma- 
tions, from the oldest to the newest, is iron ; — the metal by far 
the most important to civilized society. This is also by far 
the most abundant, and easily obtained. It often forms ex- 
tensive beds, or even mountain masses upon the surface. All 
the other metals are confined almost exclusively to the older 
rocks. Among them, lead, copper, and zinc are probably 
most needed, and accordingly they are next in quantity and 
in the facility with which they may be explored. Manganese, 
mercury, chrome, antimony, cobalt, arsenic, and bismuth are 
more difficult to obtain ; but the supply is always equal to the 
demand. In the case of tin, silver, platinum, and gold, we 
find some interesting properties to compensate in a great 
measure for their scarcity. Gold and platinum possess a re- 
markable power of resisting those powerful agents of chemical 



202 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

change which destroy every thing else. They are never oxi- 
dized in the earth, and with a very few exceptions, the most 
powerful reagents leave them untouched, while platinum will 
not yield in the most powerful heat of the furnace. Gold, 
silver, and tin are capable of an astonishing extension, whereby 
they may be spread over the surface of the more abundant 
metals to protect and adorn them ; and since the discovery of 
the galvanic mode of accomplishing this, so easily is it done, 
that I know not but a gold or silver surface is to become as 
common as metallic articles. 

My fifth geological argument for the divine benevolence is 
derived from the joint and desolating effects of ice and water 
upon the earth's surface, both before and after man's creation. 

In northern countries, and perhaps in high southern lati- 
tudes, it seems that after the deposition of the tertiary rocks, 
and after the surface had assumed essentially its present shape, 
it was subjected for a long time to a powerful agency, whereby 
the rough and salient parts were worn down and rounded, the 
rocks in place smoothed and furrowed, valleys scooped out, 
huge blocks of stone transported far from the parent bed, piled 
up, and thick accumulations of bowlders, sand, and gravel, 
strewn promiscuously over the surface. At the commence- 
ment of this process, the ocean, probably loaded with ice, 
stood above a large part of the present continents. It soon 
began to subside, or the land to rise, and a more quiet action 
succeeded. The joint action of the ocean and the glaciers on 
the land ground down into sand, clay, and loam, the coarser 
drift, and sorted it in the form of beaches, terraces, and allu- 
vial deposits. All this while, both the land and the water 
seem to have been, for the most part, destitute of inhabitants. 
But these were the very processes needed for man and his 
contemporary races, who were to appear during the latter part 



DRIFT AGENCY. 203 

of the pleistocene period. In other words, the soils were thus 
got ready for nourishing the vegetation necessary to sustain 
the new creation, which would convert these desolate and 
deserted sea-beds into regions of fertility and happiness to 
teeming millions. 

Now, just consider what must have been the effect of these 
mighty aqueous and glacial agencies upon the earth's surface. 
Over the level regions they strewed the finer materials ; and 
where the rocks had been thrown up into ridges and displaced 
by numerous fissures, or subsequently worn into bluffs and 
precipices by the ocean, it needed just such an agency to 
smooth down those irregularities, to fill up those gulfs, to give 
to the hills and valleys a graceful outline, and to cover all the 
surface with those comminuted materials that would need 
only cultivation to make them a fertile soil. Some rocks do, 
indeed, decompose and form soils ; but this process would be 
too slow, unless in moist and warm regions, where it is easier 
to find a footing for plants than in climes more uncongenial 
to their growth. We cannot then hesitate to regard this tre- 
mendous agency of ice and water in northern and high south- 
ern regions as decidedly beneficial in its influence. It must, 
indeed, have spread terrible destruction over those regions. 
But it seems that a time was chosen for its operation when 
the globe was almost destitute of organic life, and not long 
before the time when a new and nobler creation than those 
previously occupying the earth was to be placed upon it. 
Desolating as this agency must have appeared, and actually 
was, at the time, yet who can doubt, when we see the ulti- 
mate fruits of it, that its origin was divine benevolence ? 

In the ultimate results of aqueous inundations at the present 
day, we can trace the same benevolent design. Those floods 
do, indeed, produce partial evils ; nay, life, as well as property, 



204 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

often falls a prey to them. But they produce those alluvial soils 
which are more prolific of vegetation than any other on the 
globe. Who has not heard of the fertility of the banks of the 
Nile, the Niger, the Ganges, the Amazon, and the Mississippi ? 
all of them the fruit of inundations. Truly, such floods as 
these may be said to clap their hands in praise of the divine 
goodness. 

My sixth geological argument for the divine benevolence is 
derived from the existence of volcanoes. 

The first impression made on the mind by the history of 
volcanic action is, that its effects are examples rather of vin- 
dictive justice than of benevolence. And such is the light in 
which they are regarded by Mr. Gisborne, an able English 
divine, in his " Testimony of Natural to Revealed Religion.'" 
He looks, indeed, upon all the disturbances that have taken 
place in the earth's crust as evidence of a fallen condition of 
the world, as mementoes of a former penal infliction upon a 
guilty race. And aside from the light which geology casts 
upon the subject, this would be a not improbable conclusion. 
Take for an example the case of volcanoes and earthquakes. 

A volcano is an opening made in the earth's crust by in- 
ternal heat, which has forced melted or heated matter through 
the vent. An earthquake is the effect of the confined gases 
and vapors, produced by the heat upon the crust. When the 
volcano, therefore, gets vent, the earthquake always ceases. 
But the latter has generally been more destructive of life and 
property than the former. Where one city has been de- 
stroyed by lava, like Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabise, twenty 
have been shaken down by the rocking and heaving of earth- 
quakes. The records of ancient as well as modern times 
abound with examples of these tremendous catastrophes. 
Preeminent on the list is the city of Antioch. Imagine the 



EARTHQUAKES. 205 

inhabitants of that great city, crowded with strangers on a 
festival occasion, suddenly arrested on a calm day, by the 
earth heaving and rocking beneath their feet ; and in a few 
moments two hundred and fifty thousand of them are buried 
by falling houses, or the earth opening and swallowing them 
up. Such was the scene which that city presented in the year 
526 ; and several times before and since that period has the 
like calamity fallen upon it ; and twenty, forty, and sixty 
thousand of its inhabitants have been destroyed at each time. 
In the year 17 after Christ, no less than thirteen cities of Asia 
Minor were in like manner overwhelmed in a single night. 
Think of the terrible destruction that came upon Lisbon in 
1755. The sun had just dissipated the fog in a warm, calm 
morning, when suddenly the subterranean thundering and 
heaving began ; and in six minutes the city was a heap of ruins, 
and sixty thousand of the inhabitants were numbered among the 
dead. Hundreds had crowded upon a new quay surrounded 
by vessels. In a moment the earth opened beneath them, and 
the wharf, the vessels, and the crowd went down into its 
bosom ; the gulf closed, the sea rolled over the spot, and no 
vestige of wharf, vessels, or man ever floated to the surface. 
How thrilling is the account left us by Kircher, who was near, 
of the destruction of Euphemia, in Calabria, a city of about 
five thousand inhabitants, in the year 1638 ! " After some 
time," says he, "the violent paroxysm of the earthquake 
ceasing, I stood up, and, turning my eyes to look for Euphemia, 
saw only a frightful black cloud. We waited till it had passed 
away, when nothing but a dismal and putrid lake was to be 
seen where the city once stood." In like manner did Port 
Royal, in the West Indies, sink beneath the waters, with nearly 
all its inhabitants, in less than one minute, in the year 1692. 
Still more awful, though usually less destructive, is often 
18 



206 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

the scene presented by a volcanic eruption. Imagine your- 
selves, for instance, upon one of the wide, elevated plains of 
Mexico, far from the fear of volcanoes. The earth begins to 
quake under your feet, and the most alarming subterranean 
noises admonish you of a mighty power within the earth that 
must soon have vent. You flee to the surrounding mountains 
in time to look back and see ten square miles of the plain 
swell up, like a bladder, to the height of five hundred feet, while 
numerous smaller cones rise from the surface still higher, and 
emit smoke ; and in their midst, six mountains are thrown up 
to the height, some of them at least, of sixteen hundred feet, 
and pour forth melted lava, turning rivers out of their course, 
and spreading terrific desolation over a late fertile plain, and 
forever excluding its former inhabitants. Such was the erup- 
tion, by which Jorullo, in Mexico, was suddenly thrown up, 
in 1759. 

Still more terrific have been some of the eruptions in Ice- 
land. In 1783, earthquakes of tremendous power shook the 
whole island, and flames burst forth from the ocean. In June 
these ceased, and Skaptar Jokul opened its mouth ; nor did it 
close till it had poured forth two streams of lava, one sixty 
miles long, twelve miles broad, and the other forty miles long, 
and seven broad, and both with an average thickness of one 
hundred feet. During that summer the inhabitants saw the 
sun no more, and all Europe was covered with a haze. 

Around the Papandayang, one of the loftiest mountains in 
Java, no less than forty villages were reposing in peace. 
But in August, 1772, a remarkable luminous cloud enveloping 
its top aroused them from their security. But it was too late. 
For at once the mountain began to sink into the earth, and 
soon it had disappeared with the forty villages, and most of 
the inhabitants, over a space fifteen miles long and six broad. 



ERUPTION IN SUMBAWA. 207 

Still more extraordinary — the most remarkable on record 
— was an eruption in Sumbawa, one of the Molucca Islands, 
in 1815. It began on the fifth day of April, and did not 
cease till July. The explosions were heard in one direction 
nine hundred and seventy miles, and in another seven hun- 
dred and twenty miles. So heavy was the fall of ashes at 
the distance of forty miles that houses were crushed and 
destroyed. The floating cinders in the ocean, hundreds of 
miles distant, were two feet thick, and vessels were forced 
through them with difficulty. The darkness in Java, three 
hundred miles distant, was deeper than the blackest night ; 
and finally, out of the twelve thousand inhabitants of the 
island, only twenty-six survived the catastrophe. 

Now, if we confine our views to such facts as these, we can 
hardly avoid the conclusion that earthquakes and volcanoes 
are terrific exhibitions of God's displeasure towards a fallen 
and guilty world. But if it can be shown that the volcanic 
agency exerts a salutary influence in preserving the globe 
from ruin, nay, is essential to such preservation, we must 
regard its incidental destruction of property and life as no 
evidence of a vindictive infliction, nor of the want of benevo- 
lence in its operation. And the remarkable proofs which 
modern geology has presented of vast accumulations of 
heated and melted matter beneath the earth's crust, do make 
such an agent as volcanoes essential to the preservation of 
the globe. In order to make out this position, I shall not 
contend that all the earth's interior, beneath fifty or one hun- 
dred miles, is in a state of fusion. For even the most able 
and decided of those geologists who object to such an infer- 
ence, admit that oceans of melted matter do exist beneath the 
surface. And if so, how liable would vast accumulations of 
heat be, if there were no safety-valves through the crust, to 



208 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

rend asunder even a whole continent ? Volcanoes are those 
safety-valves, and more than two hundred of them are scat- 
tered over the earth's surface, forming vent-holes into the 
heated interior. Most of them, indeed, have the valves 
loaded, and the effort of the confined gases and vapors to 
lift the load produces the terrific phenomena of earthquakes 
and volcanoes. But if no such passages into the interior ex- 
isted, what could prevent the pent-up gases from accumulat- 
ing till they had gained strength enough to rend a whole con- 
tinent, and perhaps the whole globe, into fragments ? Is it 
not, then, benevolence by which this agency prevents so 
dreadful a catastrophe, even by means that bring some inci- 
dental evils along with them ? 

Some able writers do, indeed, object to the idea that volca- 
noes are safety-valves to the globe, deriving their objections 
from certain facts respecting the position of volcanic craters 
in the Sandwich Islands, if I do not misrecollect. Without 
going into the details of that case, for want of time and 
space, it seems to me that the facts respecting the connection 
between earthquakes and volcanoes, admitted by all, will jus- 
tify such a view of the latter as is expressed by the term 
" safety-valves." For earthquakes are but the incipient 
effects of the volcanic force within the globe ; and if these 
effects have been so terrible at the beginning, what must be 
the full exhibition of that force, if not able to find a passage 
for the struggling gases and lava through the strata above 
them ? Who can say that it might not rend a continent 
asunder, and, if deep enough seated, even the whole globe ? 

The question will undoubtedly be asked by every reflecting 
mind, why infinite wisdom and benevolence could not have 
devised a plan for securing the good resulting from volcanoes 
and earthquakes withou* the attendant evils. The same 



WHY IS EVIL PERMITTED? 209 

question meets us at almost every step of our examination of 
the present system of the world. For we every where meet 
with evil, incidentally connected with agencies whose pre- 
dominant effects are beneficial. I incline to the opinion, that 
the true answer to this question is, that the evil is permitted 
that thereby greater good may be secured to the universe. 
Still the subject of the origin of evil is one whose full solu- 
tion can hardly be expected in the present world, because we 
cannot here master all its elements. When it can be solved, 
we can tell why so much desolation and suffering are per- 
mitted to accompany the earthquake and the volcano. But 
if we can show that benefits far outweighing the evil are the 
result of this terrific agency, we gather from it decided evi- 
dence of the divine benevolence ; — the same evidence which 
we gain from any other operations of nature ; for in them 
all there is only a preponderance of good, not unmixed 
good. The desolation of this fair world by volcanic agency, 
and especially the destruction of life, do, indeed, teach us 
that this present system of nature is adapted to a state of 
probation and death, instead of a state of rewards and im- 
mortal life. It is adapted to sinful and fallen beings, rather 
than to those who are perfect in holiness and in happiness. 
In short, it is earth, not heaven. It is not such a world as 
heaven must be, to secure unalloyed and eternal happiness. 
Nevertheless, benevolence decidedly predominates in the 
arrangements of the present system, even in the desolating 
agency under consideration. I do not deny that God may 
sometimes employ this agency, as he may every other in 
nature, for the punishment of the guilty. But before we 
infer that this is the general use and design of volcanoes and 
earthquakes, we should ponder well the questions put by our 
Savior to some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood 
18* 



210 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Suppose ye, answered 
the Savior, that these Galileans were sinners above all the 
Galileans, because they suffered such things 1 I tell you nay. 
Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and 
slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that 
dwelt in Jerusalem ? I tell you nay. Let us follow the ex- 
ample of Jesus Christ, and take a more enlarged view of 
these startling and distressing events. Let us inquire whether 
they are not the incidental effects of agencies essential to the 
permanence and happiness of the great system of the uni- 
verse. This is certainly the case in regard to volcanoes. 
We have strong reason to believe that they are essential to 
the preservation of the globe ; and of how much higher con- 
sequence is this than the comparatively small amount of 
property and life which they destroy ! If we can only rise to 
these higher views, and not suffer our judgment to be warped 
by the immediate terrors of the earthquake and the volcano, 
we shall see the smile of infinite benevolence where most 
men see only the wrath of an offended Deity. 

My seventh geological argument for the divine benevolence 
is derived from the manner in which coal, rock salt, marble, 
gypsum, and other valuable materials were prepared for the 
use of man, long before his existence. 

If a created and intelligent being from some other sphere 
had alighted on this globe during that remote period when 
the vegetation now dug out of the coal formation covered the 
surface with its gigantic growth, he might have felt as if here 
was a waste of creative power. Vast forests of sigillaria, 
lepidodendra, coniferee, cycadese, and tree ferns would have 
waved over his head, with their imposing though sombre foli- 
age, while the lesser tribes of calamites and equisetacese 
would have filled the intervening spaces ; but no vertebral 



PROSPECTIVE BENEVOLENCE. 211 

animal would have been there to enjoy and enliven the almost 
universal solitude. Why, then, he must have inquired, is 
there such a profusion of vegetable forms, and such a colos- 
sal development of individual plants ? To what use can 
such vast forests be applied ? But let ages roll by, and that 
same being revisit our world at the present time. Let him 
traverse the little Island of Britain, and see there fifteen thou- 
sand steam engines moved by coal dug out of the earth, and 
produced by these same ancient forests. Let him see these 
engines performing the work of two millions of men, and 
moving machinery which accomplishes what would require 
the unaided labors of three or four hundred millions of men, 
and he could not doubt but such a result was one of the ob- 
jects of that rank vegetation which covered the earth ere it 
was fit for the residence of such natures as now dwell upon 
it. Let him go to the coal fields of other countries, and 
especially those of the United States, stretching over one 
hundred and fifty thousand square miles, containing a quan- 
tity absolutely inexhaustible, and already imparting comfort to 
millions of the inhabitants, and giving life and energy to 
every variety of manufacture through the almost entire length 
of this country, and destined to pour out their wealth through 
all coming time, long after the forests shall all have been 
levelled, — and irresistible must be the conviction upon his 
mind, that here is a beautiful example of prospective benevo- 
lence on 'the part of the Deity. In those remote ages, while 
yet the earth was unfitted for the higher races of animals that 
now dwell upon it, it was eminently adapted to nourish that 
gigantic flora which would produce the future fuel of the 
human race, when that crown of all God's works should be 
placed upon the earth. Ere that time, those forests must 
sink beneath the ocean, be buried beneath deposits of rock 



212 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BEiNEVOLENCE. 

thousands of feet thick. But during all that period, all those 
chemical changes which are essential to convert them into 
coal would be accomplished, and, at last, man would find 
access, by his ingenuity and industry, to the deep-seated beds 
whence his fuel might be drawn. Nor would these vast 
repositories fail him till the consummation of all things. 
Surely there was no waste, but there was a far-reaching plan 
of benevolence in the profusion of vegetable life in the earlier 
periods of our planet. 

Essentially the same remark will apply to the limestone, 
gypsum, rock salt, and several other mineral products of the 
earth, which are almost indispensable to man in a civilized 
state. For these, too, were produced by slow processes, dur- 
ing those vast periods of duration that preceded man's exist- 
ence. Limestone has been chiefly elaborated by the organs 
of animals, many of them of microscopic littleness. Yet 
lofty ranges of mountains and immense deposits in the inter- 
vening valleys have been the result. Nearly one seventh 
part of the crust of the globe, it has been said, is thus consti- 
tuted of the works or remains of animals. And can we doubt 
but that these rocks are thus spread over the surface of the 
globe because they are needed by all mankind, like air and 
water ? It must have been benevolence that so arranged the 
agencies by which they were produced, during the revolution 
of primeval ages, that they have this wide diffusion. Gypsum 
and fossil salt are more sparingly diffused ; but still enough 
is always to be found to meet the demand. Nor is it reason- 
able to doubt that the same prospective goodness which pro- 
vided for coal and limestone, commissioned other agencies to 
lay up a store of gypsum, salt, bitumen, clay, and other sub- 
stances dug out of the earth for man's benefit. 

My eighth geological argument for the divine henevolence 



/ 



ADAPTATION OF ORGANIC NATURES. 213 

is based upon the perfect adaptation of the natures of ani- 
mals and plants to the varying condition of the globe through 
all the periods of its past history. 

The very slight changes in climate, situation, and food, 
that will destroy most species of animals and plants, i« hard 
to be realized by man, whose nature will sustain vtiy great 
changes of this kind. So will most of the animals and plants 
that have been domesticated by man, and which accompany 
him into every soil and climate. But the great mass of ani- 
mals and plants would perish by such a transplantation. They 
are adapted to a particular region, often of narrow limits ; 
and to remove them from thence, even to one slightly diverse, 
is to cause their deterioration and final destruction. In other 
words, their natures are exactly adapted to the place of hab- 
itation assigned them. And it must have required infinite 
wisdom thus to fit the delicate machinery of animal and 
vegetable organization to the great variety of circumstances 
on the globe in which it is placed. But we find that same 
wisdom to have been manifested in all the vast periods 
of organic life. We have the most unequivocal evidence 
that the condition of the earth has undergone important 
changes. We cannot examine the remarkable flora and 
fauna of the older rocks, the gigantic sauroid fishes, the huge 
orthoceratites and ammonites, the heteroclitic trilobites, and 
the strange sigillaria and lepidodendra, calamites and aster- 
ophyllites, the lofty coniferse, and the anomalous cycadese, 
— we cannot examine these without realizing that a state of 
the globe very different from the present must have existed 
when they had possession of it. And when we contemplate 
also the enormous saurians and batrachians of the middle sec- 
ondary rocks, and the colossal quadrupeds of the tertiary 
strata, we cannot doubt that a tropical or an ultra-tropical 



214 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

climate must have prevailed in high northern latitudes during 
their existence. We perceive that there has been a gradual 
decrease of temperature on the surface from the earliest 
times. In each successive race of organized beings which 
have been placed on the globe, there must have been, there- 
fore, some change of constitution to adapt them to the altered 
state of the climate and productions of the earth. And we 
find this alteration to have been always made with consum- 
mate skill, so as to secure the most complete development 
of organic beings, and the greatest enjoyment to sensitive 
natures. Malevolence would not have done this ; for it might, 
with infinite knowledge at command, have filled each succes- 
sive period of the world with natures unadapted to the muta- 
ble condition of things, capable, indeed, of a prolonged 
existence, not to enjoy, but only to suffer. But infinite 
benevolence was fitting up this world by slow secondary 
agencies for the elevated races which now occupy it, especial- 
ly for one species, rational and immortal ; and it lavished its 
kindness and wisdom by filling the world, during those pre- 
paratory ages, with multitudes of happy beings, fitted exactly 
to each altered condition of the air, the water, and the soil. 

My ninth and last geological argument for the divine 
benevolence is founded upon the permanence and security of 
the world, in spite of the mighty changes it has undergone, 
and the powerful agencies to which it is now subject. 

When we learn from the records of geology, as they are 
inscribed upon the rocks, how numerous and thorough have 
been the revolutions of the surface and the crust of the globe 
in past ages ; how often and how long the present dry land 
has been alternately above and beneath the ocean ; how fre- 
quently the crust of the globe has been fractured, bent, and 
dislocated, — now lifted upward, and now thrown downward, 



SECURITY OF THE EARTH'S SURFACE. 215 

and now folded by lateral pressure ; how frequently melted 
matter has been forced through its strata and through its fis- 
sures to the surface ; in short, how every particle of the acces- 
sible portions of the globe has undergone entire metamor- 
phoses; and especially when we recollect what strong evi- 
dence there is that oceans of liquid matter exist beneath the solid 
crust, and that probably the whole interior of the earth is in that 
condition, with expansive energy sufficient to rend the globe 
into fragments, — when we review all these facts, we cannot 
but feel that the condition of the surface of the globe must 
be one of great insecurity and liability to change.- But it is 
not so. On the contrary, the present state of the globe is 
one of permanent uniformity and entire security, except 
those comparatively slight catastrophes which result from 
earthquakes, volcanoes, and local deluges. Even the climate 
has experienced no general change within historic times, and 
the profound mathematical researches of Baron Fourier have 
demonstrated that, even though the internal parts of the globe 
are in an incandescent state, beneath a crust thirty or forty 
miles, the temperature at the surface has long since ceased 
to be affected by the melted central mass ; that it is not now 
more than one seventeenth of a degree higher than it would 
be if the interior were ice ; and that hundreds of thousands of 
years will not see it lowered, from this cause, more than the 
seventeenth part of a degree. And as to the apprehension 
that the entire crust of the globe may be broken through, 
and fell into the melted matter beneath, just reflect what 
solidity and strength there must be in a mass of hard rock 
from fifty to one hundred miles in thickness, and your fears 
of such a catastrophe will probably vanish. 

Now, such a uniformity of climate and security from gen- 
eral ruin are essential to the comfort and existence of animal 



216 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

nature. But it must have required infinite wisdom and benev- 
olence so to arrange and balance, the mighty elements of 
change and ruin which exist in the earth, that they should 
hold one another in check, and make the world a quiet, un- 
changed, and secure dwelling-place for so many thousands 
of years. Surely that wisdom must have been guided by 
infinite benevolence. And it would seem from geology that 
the same union of wisdom and benevolence have always 
arranged the past conditions of the earth. For, during each 
of the periods of organic existence, uniformity and security 
seem to have prevailed so long as the purposes of the Deity 
required. In early times, indeed, when animals were mostly 
confined to the waters, it was not necessary that the dry land 
should be as exempt as at present from catastrophes ; and 
probably they were then more frequent ; and it may be that, 
while there were uniformity and security in one portion of the 
globe, or in one element, there might have been disturbance 
and desolation in others. And it is doubtful whether such 
general quiet has ever prevailed for so long a time as 
during the present, or historic period. We see a reason 
for this in the fact that never before were so many ani- 
mals in existence, with a structure so delicate and com- 
plicated. 

Such are the evidences of divine benevolence, drawn from 
a field at first view most unpromising. And yet, when we 
come to look beyond the surface, where do we find more de- 
cisive or more numerous indications of God's benefieence ? 
They are not like many hasty generalizations, which superfi- 
cial examination has often brought from natural phenomena 
in proof of this same truth, but which, although beautiful at 
first view, must be abandoned upon careful research. But 



UNEXPECTED PROOFS OF BENEVOLENCE. 217 

these, though repulsive at first, gain solidity and beauty by 
examination. And they are the more interesting because 
they come from an unexpected quarter. Men have been 
accustomed to search among the drift piled up by water and 
ice, among dislocated and rent strata of rocks, among moun- 
tains overturned and fields made desolate by volcanic erup- 
tions, for the mementoes of penal inflictions ; but they have 
not imagined that divine benevolence might be seen among 
these disturbances and desolations ; and that simply because 
they confined their views to the immediate effect of geologi- 
cal agencies, and did not enlarge their views to take in their 
connection with the great system of the universe. But now 
that we find the stamp of benevolence even here, we learn 
an instructive lesson. Every reflecting mind is aware that 
the doctrine of divine benevolence lies at the foundation of 
all natural and revealed religion, and that until this be estab- 
lished we labor in vain to erect a superstructure. It is well 
known, also, that the existence of natural and moral evil has 
been considered a strong objection to this great truth. Now, 
geology furnishes us with many examples, in which agencies, 
often fraught with terrific evils, are nevertheless eminently 
beneficial when the whole extent of their operation is taken 
into account. Why is it not a fair inference that, in all other 
cases where evils stand out prominently, they are only inci- 
dental results of some wide system of operations, of which 
our limited vision embraces only a part, but whose tenden- 
cies as a whole are eminently salutary, and whose incidental 
evils do, in fact, increase the salutary effects ? If so, what 
reason have we to believe that, when the light of eternity 
shall clarify our mental eye, and enlarge our knowledge 
of the present system of the universe, we shall find all 
19 



218 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

" partial evil to be universal good," and that our narrow 
views alone threw obscurity and difficulty over this subject 
in this life ? O, if even here so many rays of divine love 
find their way into our narrow prison-house, what will be 
their brightness when they pour in upon us from the unveiled 
glories of the heavenly world ! 



(219) 



LECTURE VII. 

DIVINE BENEVOLENCE AS EXHIBITED IN A FALLEN 
WORLD. 

The geological proofs of the divine benevolence considered 
in the last lecture present only a partial view of that glorious 
characteristic of Jehovah. I am tempted, therefore, to ex- 
hibit it in its more general aspect and broader relations. 
This will necessarily bring into view other important religious 
truths respecting man's fallen condition and character, and, 
as a consequence, the modified aspect of the divine goodness 
in such a world. 

To those destitute of a revelation this world has, indeed, 
ever seemed an inextricable maze, an enigma too dark for 
human wisdom to solve. Nor have those favored with the 
Bible agreed in their modes of clearing up the mystery. 
Having endeavored to explain all by following out some lead- 
ing and favorite idea, their theories have varied as these 
predominant conceptions differed. One, for instance, fixes 
his gaze so intently upon the divine benevolence that he is 
blind to every manifestation of Jehovah's sterner attributes. 
Another, deeply impressed with the story of man's original 
apostasy, sees only vindictive justice, and penal infliction, and 
disordered action, in all the movements of nature and the 
trials and sufferings of man. A third, captivated by the dis- 
coveries of modern geology, relative to the existence of suf- 
fering and death in the world before man's creation, and 



220 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

learning, moreover, from physiology, that death is a general 
law of all organized natures, vegetable as well as animal, is 
led to doubt whether the disorders of the world have any im- 
portant connection with man's apostasy. 

Now, it were easy to show that our views on these subjects 
have a most important bearing upon our entire system of the- 
ology ; and, therefore, they deserve our most thorough and 
candid examination. To such an examination I now invite 
your serious attention. 

It is not my object to appeal to the Scriptures to prove the 
divine benevolence. That were an easy task. So, were 
this an unfallen world, every object and event would be redo- 
lent of God's goodness. But where sin and death abound, 
that goodness must assume a different aspect, since its un- 
mixed manifestation would work mischief. Now, the point 
aimed at in this lecture is to ascertain whether natural reli- 
gion can point out decisive evidence of divine benevolence. 
We can conceive it quite possible that in a fallen world God 
might find it necessary so to mingle displays of justice with 
those of goodness, that man might be in doubt which pre- 
dominated. 

There is another reason for considering this subject apart 
from scriptural evidence. We need to establish the doctrine 
of divine benevolence as a basis on which to rest the evi- 
dences of inspiration ; or, rather, we want to be able to 
assume God's benevolence, in arguing for the truth of the 
Bible, and in judging of its contents. This doctrine, there- 
fore, is one of the most important, as it is certainly the most 
difficult, in natural theology. 

Obviously the first step in this investigation must be to as- 
certain what is the real state of this world, as a manifestation 
of the benevolence and justice of God. In other words, we 



BENEVOLENCE PREDOMINATES. 221 

need to ascertain what exhibitions of these attributes are 
presented to us in nature, and in the economy of Providence, 
and how much of the evil in the world is to be imputed 
to man's perversion of the gifts of God. I shall proceed, 
therefore, to state the main points on this subject which 
fair and candid reasoning seems to me to sustain. When 
these points are before us, with a summary of the evidence 
by which they are supported, we shall be prepared to deduce 
important conclusions respecting God's character and dispen- 
sations, and man's position and destiny. 

In the first place, then, I maintain that benevolence decid- 
edly predominates in the present system of the world. 

Let this proposition be fully understood. It does not mean 
that there is no mixture of evil in the operations of nature, 
but only that good decidedly overbalances the evil. And by 
the operations of nature I mean those processes resulting from 
natural laws, which are uninfluenced by the perverseness of 
man. How much of evil may be imputed to his perversion 
of the gifts of Providence will be considered in another place, 
as will also those cases in which evil seems inseparable from 
the original arrangements of the world. All that I am now 
concerned to prove is, that, in a vast majority of instances, 
we see the marks of benevolent design and benevolent oper- 
ation in the arrangements of nature. 

This position is established, in the first place, by the fact 
that the design of every natural contrivance is to produce 
happiness. 

To show that such is the case, by an appeal to facts, would 

be, in truth, to write the history of every natural process, and 

show its design. But it will be sufficient to consider only 

such cases as appear most decidedly to militate against my 

19* 



222 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

position, and to show that even these are not designed to 
cause evil or suffering. 

How does it happen, then, you may inquire, that evil is the 
result of a multitude of contrivances and processes in na- 
ture ? It is an incidental effect, I answer ; that is, an effect 
happening aside from the main design of the contrivance. 
Take a few illustrations. 

No one can doubt that the law of gravity is essential to the 
preservation and comfort of the world, and to the harmoni- 
ous motions of the heavenly bodies. Yet how often does it 
give rise to frightful accidents to men and animals ! But 
when they are crushed by falling bodies, or by falling them- 
selves, who imagines this to be the design of gravitation ? 
How clear that its real object is beneficial, and that the evil 
resulting from it is unavoidable in a world constituted like 
ours ! Why the world is not constituted differently, is an inquiry 
which men may try to answer ; but an answer is not impor- 
tant to my present object. 

Take an example from the organic world. Every one is 
aware that without a nervous system in animals there would 
be no sensibility, nor sensation, and, of course, no enjoyment ; 
and without these, animals would be unconscious of danger, 
and would not guard against it, nor withdraw from it. We 
are sure, therefore, that these two objects are the grand de- 
sign of the nervous system, and, of course, it is a benevolent 
design. But the nervous system causes a great deal of suf- 
fering as well as pleasure. Obviously, however, this is only 
an incidental effect, which could not be prevented without a 
miracle ; while the main design is to produce happiness and 
guard against evil. 

It may be asked, however, by what principle we can de- 
termine what is the design of a contrivance, and what the 



INCIDENTAL EFFECTS. 223 

incidental effect. Why select a part of the effects, and call 
them the object aimed at by the contriver, while we regard 
others as incidental, and merely permitted, not intended ? 

The principle on which we make this distinction is very 
clear. We judge of the design of a contrivance by its pre- 
dominant tendencies and effects. If evil as often results as 
good, misery as often as happiness, we could not decide 
whether the design was benevolent or malevolent, or an indif- 
ference to both. But the benevolent tendency and effects of 
every natural contrivance are so obvious, and so immensely 
outweigh all its evil results, that we are compelled to admit 
the design of the Author of nature to be benevolent. And, 
therefore, when we see evil occasionally result from such 
contrivances, we are authorized to say that this is only an 
incidental effect ; not, indeed, wholly undesigned, for we 
cannot doubt that God has a design in the permission of all 
evil. But for each particular arrangement and movement in 
nature we can discover a predominant and benevolent object. 

Take another example from the human frame. In that 
frame we find a multitude of organs, nearly all of which are 
obviously adapted to a particular use. Now, the anatomist 
cannot lay his finger upon one of them, and say, This was 
intended to produce derangement and suffering in the system. 
Here is a muscle contrived to clog the operations of its 
neighbors ; here a blood-vessel adapted to corrupt the blood 
and produce disease ; here a gland whose object is to secrete 
a poisonous fluid, to contaminate the whole system ; here a 
nerve made to produce pain ; here a plexus of vessels suited 
to bring on disease. On the contrary, this anatomist perceives 
at once that all the organs of the animal system, and their 
collocation, are fitted in the best possible manner to produce 
health. It is obvious at a glance that this is their design. 



224 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

But if such be the fact, how happens it that so few per- 
sons pass through life without disease ? Is it all to be im- 
puted to an abuse and perversion of the organs and powers 
of life ? Not so, in my opinion. But those organs are all 
liable to disease ; and when we see how delicate and compli- 
cated they are, we ought not to wonder that even the una- 
voidable causes of derangement should often bring it on. 
Yet, after all, health is the rule and the object, and disease 
only the exception. But I shall say more on this subject in 
another part of the argument. 

Some one, however, who hears me, has doubtless ere this 
had his thoughts recur to the organs of carnivorous animals, 
the poisonous fangs of serpents, and the organs of the scor- 
pion, the tarantula, and of insects, for the generation and 
protrusion of deadly poison. Here we have organs expressly 
provided for the destruction of other animals. That such is 
their design, no physiologist can doubt ; and hence they are 
intended to produce suffering, and not happiness. 

Is this an exactly correct statement of the case ? True, 
suffering is the result of such organs ; but the arrangement 
is intended to accomplish still higher purposes. The leading 
one is to procure food for sustenance, the other is self-defence. 
Both of these are essential to the animal's continued exist- 
ence. That suffering should be incidentally connected with 
instruments or organs so important, is no more difficult to ex- 
plain than is the existence of evil any where. The object 
even of these contrivances, then, is beneficial. And if so, I 
know of no other example in nature so seemingly adverse to 
the position I have laid down, that the main object of every 
natural contrivance is benevolent in its origin and results. If 
this be so, how clearly does it indicate the character of the 
contriver to be benevolent ! 



PLEASURE SUPERADDED. 225 

My second argument is derived from the fact that the or- 
ganic functions often produce pleasure where suffering was 
just as consistent with their most perfect action ; or I might 
say that such are the arrangements of the natural world, that 
pleasure often results to sentient beings from its operations, 
when they might have been as perfectly performed with the 
production of pain. A few illustrations will render the mean- 
ing of this position obvious. 

As we look abroad upon nature, one of the most striking 
traits we discover is its unbounded variety. With the Psalm- 
ist we involuntarily exclaim, O Lord, how manifold are thy 
works ! It is not merely variety as to form, texture, attitude, 
and arrangement ; but who can describe the countless tints of 
coloring which are spread over the heavens and the earth ? 
Now, there is in the human soul an aptitude to be pleased 
with variety ; nay, there is a craving for it. Nor can there 
be a more terrible infliction than unvarying monotony and 
sameness of appearance, arrangement, and action. If, there- 
fore, the Creator had been malevolent, or indifferent to the 
happiness of man and other sentient beings, he might have 
gratified this disposition most perfectly by giving to the human 
soul its present love of variety, and then spreading over the 
face of nature a dead uniformity of figure, position, arrange- 
ment, and coloring ; forming every thing upon the same 
model. And this might have been done without impairing at 
all the perfect operation of all her laws that are essential. 
Every thing might have been as systematic and harmonious 
as it now is ; but sentient beings would have been miserable ; 
and this must have been supremely gratifying to infinite 
malevolence. He might also have so constructed the organs 
of hearing, sight, and smell, that every sound might have 
been ungrateful and gratir-g, every odor repulsive, and every 



226 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

prospect disgusting. While hunger would have urged ani- 
mals, as it now does, to seek food, its reception might have 
been painful, or utterly void of gustatory enjoyment. So in 
regard to social enjoyments ; we might have been irresistibly 
drawn towards our fellow-men, and yet their society might 
have been hateful in the extreme. 

Had such a state of things existed, how very clearly we 
should have inferred the malevolence of the Author of na- 
ture ! Or if such a state had been witnessed about as often 
as its opposite, we might reasonably have said that he was 
indifferent to the happiness of his creatures. Why, then, 
may we not, with equal reason, infer his benevolence, when 
we find, in a vast majority of cases, — nay, for aught I know, 
universally, — that pleasure is superadded to animal enjoyment 
where it was wholly unnecessary to the perfect operation of 
nature's laws ? 

The fact is, God has made all nature " beauty to our eye 
and music to our ear," when it was wholly unnecessary for 
the perfect operation of her laws ; and the inference is irre- 
sistible, that he delights in the happiness of his creatures. 
Nor can the fact that evil exists in the world destroy the 
force of this argument, unless that evil is so general as to be 
obviously the design of the Creator in devising and arranging 
the system of the world. While we admit its existence, we 
say that it is only incidental, and that pleasure is so often 
superadded unnecessarily, as to prove happiness to be the 
design, and evil the exception. 

The two arguments above presented are the evidence on 
which Dr. Paley relies to prove the divine benevolence. 
They are, indeed, as it seems to me, unanswerable. But if 
I mistake not, they do by no means exhaust the storehouse 
of nature's proofs of this fundamental principle of natural 



TWO WAYS OF DOING A THING. 227 

and revealed religion. I derive a third argument for the pre- 
dominance of benevolence in the works of nature from the 
variety of means often provided for the performance of im- 
portant functions ; so that animals and plants can adapt 
themselves to different circumstances, and prolong their 
existence. 

The examples which I have in mind to illustrate this argu- 
ment are all derived from the organic world. I refer, for 
instance, to the fact that nearly all our muscles, and many 
other important organs, as the hands, the feet, the eyes, and the 
lungs, are in pairs, so that if one meets with an injury, or is 
destroyed, the other can, to some extent, perform the office 
of both. The brain has two hemispheres, and one of them 
may be seriously wounded without destroying the healthy 
action of .the other. 

But perhaps the most appropriate example is in the blood- 
vessels, whose inosculations are so numerous that even 
though large arteries and veins be tied, the blood will find its 
way through the smaller ones, which ultimately will so en- 
large as to keep up the circulation nearly as well as before 
the injury. And, in fact, almost every one of the large blood- 
vessels has been tied by the surgeon with little ultimate 
injury to the patient. 

In the process of deglutition, or swallowing the nourish- 
ment essential to the existence of all the more perfect 
animals, — since the food and the air for respiration pass for 
a time through a common opening, the pharynx, — it is ex- 
tremely important that the passage to the lungs should be 
most vigilantly guarded ; since strangulation would follow 
the introduction there of any thing but air. Accordingly, 
the entrance of the glottis is so sensitive, that the approach 
of the food causes it to close. But lest this security should 



228 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

sometimes fail, we have an additional guard in the epiglottis, 
"which shuts down like a valve upon the orifice. Even with 
this double precaution, strangulation sometimes follows the 
act of deglutition. How much oftener would it occur, had 
not benevolence thus multiplied its vigilant sentinels at the 
point of danger ! 

Another illustration of this argument lies in the fact, that 
many of the organs of animals and plants possess the power, 
when an exigency requires it, of greatly increasing their 
action. When, for instance, an unusual quantity of osseous 
matter is requisite to repair a broken bone, the glands, whose 
office it is to elaborate that matter, are capable of secreting 
an extraordinary quantity, until the injury is repaired. 

Of an analogous character is the sympathy existing be- 
tween the different organs, so that when one has an unusual 
amount of labor to perform, the rest impart of their nervous 
energy to sustain their overtasked companion. Thus, and 
thus only, could animals be carried through many of the 
severe exigencies of their existence. Their organs help one 
another, just as if they were conscious of one another's ne- 
cessities, and were prompted by benevolence to aid the 
weakest. 

In like manner, some of the organs possess the power of 
vicarious secretion ; that is, of producing, in peculiar circum- 
stances, secretions that are usually made by other glands. 
How they can do this, and how they can know when to do it, 
are among the mysteries of physiology. Nevertheless, the 
object of this arrangement is most obvious, viz., the continu- 
ance of health and life in spite of accidents, which would 
otherwise prove fatal. 

The same vicarious system is manifest in the well-known 
examples, where the loss of one or more of the senses gives 



VICARIOUS ARRANGEMENTS. 229 

increased acuteness to the rest. The sense of touch, for in- 
stance, in the blind man, has sometimes proved no mean 
substitute for eyes ; and, indeed, any of the senses by 
cultivation, in peculiar exigencies, may be prodigiously 
strengthened. 

Now, in all these cases, where the vicarious principle is 
brought into operation, or sympathy concentrates the power 
of many organs in one, or the loss of one organ or sense 
quickens the sensibility of the rest, do we not recognize the 
prospective care and kindness of infinite benevolence ? Do 
you say that it merely shows infinite wisdom, which adjusts 
means to ends with consummate skill, in order to be sure of 
success in its designs? Why, then, I inquire, should these 
provisions for trying exigencies in the animal system always 
tend to the happiness of the creature ? Surely there were 
other means at the command of infinite wisdom for securing 
the existence of the animal, which would bring misery upon 
it instead of happiness. The benevolent tendency of the 
design, therefore, proves the benevolent feelings of the 
designer. 

The extraordinary provisions that are made in some cases 
for the multiplication of animals and plants, in order to pre- 
vent the extinction of any races, and to give life and happi- 
ness to as many animals as can be sustained, is another indi- 
cation of benevolent care on the part of the Creator. Not 
less than five modes of reproduction are known to exist, viz., 
the viviparous, the ovo-viviparous, the oviparous, the gemmipa- 
rous, and the fissiparous ; and among the lowest families of 
animals several of these modes exist in the same species, so 
that their extinction, or even deficient multiplication, is 
scarcely possible. 

The same benevolence is manifested in the power possessed 
20 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

by animals and plants to adapt themselves to different cir- 
cumstances. Often are they thrown into conditions widely 
diverse as to food, temperature, and exposure to chemical 
and mechanical agencies, with no possibility on their part of 
avoiding them. This is eminently true of man ; and were 
not animals able to adapt themselves to these various states, 
they must perish. True, there are limits to this adaptation ; 
but they are wide enough to accomplish the great purposes 
of existence, and to make us comfortable and happy amid 
great changes in our condition. Nor is this power of adapta- 
tion among animals limited to their physical nature. Their 
mental habits admit of an oscillation equally wide, so that, 
ere long, we become happy in a condition which at first was 
painful in the extreme. New habits take the place of the old 
ones so gradually that we scarcely realize the change. 

Now, if this power were not possessed in such a world as 
ours, could organic natures not bend at all to circumstances, 
constant suffering and premature dissolution would be the 
result. The power of adaptation, therefore, looks like the 
benevolent provision of a kind Father, who wishes to make 
his creatures as happy as he can in the circumstances in 
which his wisdom has placed them. Certainly, malevolence, 
or indifference to their happiness, would not have introduced 
this power of adaptation into their natures ; for it is certain 
that their continued existence might have been secured in 
some other way, had no reference been had to their hap- 
piness. 

I base my fourth argument for the predominance of benev- 
lence, in the arrangements of nature, upon the aggregate 
results of the most destructive and terrific agencies which 
she employs. 

The immediate effects of these agencies are often so 



TERRIFIC AGENCIES NECESSARY. 231 

appalling and so unmixed with good, that men view them only 
as penal inflictions ; or, when the sufferers are unconscious 
of guilt, as mysterious dispensations of evil, which need the 
light of another world to reconcile with infinite benevolence. 
When the tornado or sirocco's hot breath sweeps over the 
devoted land ; when the river overflows its banks, and ingulfs 
the defenceless inhabitants along its course, or the giant waves 
of the ocean roll in upon the devoted shore ; when the heav- 
ing earthquake overturns in a moment vast cities, and the 
earth swallows them in its bosom ; or when the volcano pours 
out its suffocating smoke and its scorching lava, and oblit- 
erates from earth the defenceless town, as once Herculaneum 
and Pompeii were converted into petrified cities, — in the 
midst of such desolating agencies, where can we discover a 
gleam of benevolence ? Not surely in the immediate effects. 
But suppose the tornado, the flood, the earthquake, and the 
volcano are essential to the preservation of the earth from a 
far wider ruin, so that, in fact, while they destroy some prop- 
erty and life, they preserve a far greater amount, and are 
essential to such preservation, — why is it not benevolence 
that gives a slight play to these terrific elements, while it 
checks their wild war so soon as the requisite security has 
been obtained ? When the storm has sufficiently purified the 
atmosphere, when the flood has enriched the wide alluvial 
fields, and the earthquake and the volcano have given vent to 
the pent-up fires in the earth, so that they no longer threaten 
to rend a continent asunder, then a restraining power is put 
upon them, and they are allowed no more range than is essen- 
tial to the general good. We may not, indeed, see why the 
good could not be secured without the evil. But this question 
leads to the inquiry, whether the present system of the uni- 
verse is the best possible ; and that it is so we have the 



232 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

guaranty of the divine perfections. Those perfections admit 
the existence of evil ; but at the same time they take care 
that the aggregate result of the greatest evils should be 
beneficial. 

Nor would we limit this position to evils springing out of 
the nature or the changes of the inanimate world ; for some 
of the severest evils are dependent upon the organization or 
operation of animate nature. Man, for instance, finds him- 
self often grossly annoyed by some species of the inferior 
animals, in his comfort, property, and even life. And he 
wonders why infinite wisdom and benevolence should per- 
mit certain species to exist, when they seem fitted only to 
annoy the rest. But he knows not what he desires when he 
wishes their extinction. For such is the balance of organic 
nature, that to strike out even one species, is like removing a 
link from a chain. Once broken, every other link is affected, 
and the whole chain lies useless upon the ground. Or, to 
speak without a figure, if you blot out certain species of ani- 
mals or plants, you disturb the balance of the whole system 
of organic nature ; nor can you tell where the disturbance thus 
introduced will end. It may lead to the excessive multiplica- 
tion of species still more injurious than those you have de- 
stroyed. At any rate, since the perfections of the Deity lead 
to the conclusion that the existing proportion between different 
species is the best, all things considered, and change in the 
balance must be injurious, we may conclude, that though nox- 
ious animals and plants may produce individual inconvenience 
and injury, the aggregate effects upon the whole of organic 
nature are salutary, and, therefore, indicative of benevolence. 

Similar reasoning will, I think, apply to the existence of 
that large class of animals called carnivorous. These are 
evidently intended to prey upon other animals ; and for this 



CARNIVOROUS RACES NECESSARY. 

purpose they are provided with weapons for seizing and de- 
stroying their prey. It is often extremely painful to a man 
of kind feelings to witness the scenes of blood and havoc 
which these flesh-eating animals produce. But we forget two 
things. The first is, that in order to keep the numbers of ani- 
mated beings full in the different tribes, it is necessary that 
there should be a great excess of numbers created, to meet 
all the casualties to which they are exposed ; and that excess 
must in some way or other be removed from life. Secondly, 
all the enjoyment of the carnivorous races is so much clear 
gain to the sum of animal happiness ; for the excess of num- 
bers in the tribes of vegetable feeders suffer no more in being 
destroyed by the carnivorous races, than if they died in some 
other way ; not so much, indeed, as if they perished by fam- 
ine. We may safely conclude, then, that even this system 
of mutual slaughter, when viewed in all its relations, is the 
means, in such a world as ours, of increasing the amount of 
enjoyment, and is, therefore, a benevolent provision. 

This course of reasoning may be extended, as 1 judge, to 
the greatest of all mortal evils, — I mean death. In the case 
of the inferior animals, the amount of physical or mental suf- 
fering from this cause is comparatively small. And if they 
survive the change of death, surely there is benevolence in so 
easy a translation. Or, if they do not exist hereafter, the 
stroke of death is a small deduction from the happiness of a 
whole life. In man's case, we must not take into the account 
the aggravations of death which his own misconduct pro- 
duces. And aside from these, what a blessing it would be to be 
transferred to a more exalted state of being, by an experience 
no more painful than that of a Christian dying what may be 
called a natural death, by mere decay ! Then, too, how 
much greater happiness is the result of a succession of 
20* 



234 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

beings on earth, than one undying race would enjoy, both 
because the successive races would . be ever passing through 
novel scenes, which would soon become monotonous to a 
continuous race, and because, as we have already suggested, 
a succession of races admits of the existence, at any one 
time, of a far greater number of species ! Then, too, we 
must not forget the salutary moral influence which man expe- 
riences from the expectation of death ; so great, indeed, that 
without it, it seems doubtful whether the world would be any 
thing better than a Pandemonium. In making indissoluble 
the connection between sin and death, therefore, in such a 
system as the present, benevolence presided with wisdom 
and justice in the councils of Jehovah. 

But in the third lecture I have treated this whole subject 
so much more fully, that I need not add any thing further in 
this connection. 

I base my fifth and last argument, to prove the predomi- 
nance of benevolence in the present system of nature, on the 
fact that good so often results from evil as a natural conse- 
quence. Or, to state the argument in another form, good 
seems generally to be the object or final cause of evil, 
whereas evil flows only incidentally from good. 

This argument scarcely differs from the last, except in the 
more general form of its statement. That brings forward 
certain prominent and appalling evils, and endeavors to show 
that, in striking the balance of their effects, the preponderance 
is on the side of benevolence. This advances a step farther, 
and attempts to show that the direct object of evil is to pro- 
duce good. 

It follows, hence, that the examples adduced and elucidated 
under the last argument are not inappropriate to sustain and 
illustrate the present. Yet others should be added. 



TRIALS NECESSARY TO HAPPINESS. 235 

Almost the entire history of medicine and surgery illus- 
trates the manner in which physical evils result in physical 
good. Indeed, men never resort to the physician, or the sur- 
geon, because their remedies and operations are desirable, but 
only because they are the necessary means of health and 
comfort. These means are, indeed, for the most part, of hu- 
man invention, but not, therefore, the less indicative of the 
divine intention ; for they are founded upon such a constitu- 
tion in nature as makes it possible to discover remedies for 
disease and accidents. And the characteristics of nature's 
constitution are an index of the intentions of its Author. 

The severe mental discipline through which the youth must 
pass, who would attain distinction in learning, affords us an 
example of intellectual evil resulting in intellectual wealth 
and happiness. The trial is too severe for many irresolute 
minds, and they give over the effort, and sink down into a 
state of indolence and neglect. But he who bears manfully 
the discipline will at length gather the golden fruit. And he 
will be satisfied, too, of the wisdom and benevolence of that 
law of mental progress, which makes it impossible ever to find 
a royal road to the temple of learning, and which shuts out 
from that temple all who shrink from the preparatory dis- 
cipline. 

Still more strikingly illustrative of this argument are the 
evils which men suffer as necessary precursors of moral good. 
These may be physical or mental ; embracing all those expe- 
riences that take the name of trials, afflictions, and disappoint- 
ments. These are often intensely bitter, and they constitute, 
indeed, the master evils of life. We shudder when we see 
them coming ; and we often writhe in agony when in the 
furnace. But how many have come out of that furnace puri- 
fied from base alloy, and ready for the service of God and 



236 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

the world ! To do good is henceforth their delight ; and they 
thank God for the severe discipline. When his heavy blows 
fell upon them, one after another, they felt as if they were 
the strokes of an incensed Deity. But now they see that they 
were only the necessary inflictions of infinite love. And 
they admire the wisdom that could thus educe so much good 
out of so great evil. 

I do not contend that good is always educed from evil in 
this world, or could be ; but only that, in a plurality of cases, 
if men improve the evils they suffer as they might, such would 
be the effect. And if this be admitted, it is sufficient to estab- 
lish the general principle, that one of the direct objects of evil 
in this world is to produce individual benefit. 

But the converse of this proposition cannot be maintained. 
We cannot, indeed, deny that evil sometimes results from 
good ; but never as the direct object of the latter. The effect 
is only incidental ; that is, not as the main object ; and so a 
few cases of this sort cannot invalidate the proposition which 
I defend. 

I might multiply much more the arguments furnished by 
nature to prove a predominance of benevolence in the arrange- 
ments and operations of the present system of things. But I 
see no way of escaping the force of those presented, and can- 
not doubt that all will admit the conclusion. I advance, there- 
fore to a second proposition, and maintain that the benevolence 
exhibited in the present system of nature is not unmixed. 

I mean, by this statement, that the divine benevolence ex- 
hibited in this world is modified by other perfections. While 
there is a predominance of benevolence, there are also indi- 
cations of God's displeasure ; or, at least, his dealings seem to 
be adapted to restrain and amend a wicked race, rather than 
to make an innocent and holy race happy ; so that the condition 



BENEVOLENCE NOT UNMIXED. 237 

of the human family is far less happy than unmixed benevo- 
lence would confer. 

In proof of this assertion, I maintain, first, that evil is inci- 
dental to every process and event in nature. 

This is preeminently true of all those actions which we 
call vicious. Indeed, they are in themselves evils of the 
worst kind ; and not only so, but they are connected incident- 
ally with scarcely any thing but evil, though sometimes, as 
theologians say, overruled for good. 

Take next the common operations of nature, which, of 
course, have no moral character. Their leading design, as 
we have already seen, is to produce good to sentient beings ; 
but incidentally they bring much evil. Food is intended for 
gustatory enjoyment and for nourishment ; but it is often the 
occasion of severe suffering, and becomes an active poison. 
Gravity is intended to hold the material universe in a proper 
balance, and to attach every moving thing on earth to the 
surface ; but it occasions a vast number of accidents, and a 
vast amount of suffering. Water and fire are of immense 
direct benefit ; yet the first buries a vast amount of property 
and life in its bosom, and the latter is scarcely less injurious 
in its incidental effects. Indeed, what natural agency can be 
named, that is not armed with the power to do evil ? 

But the same principle extends also to benevolent actions. 
With our views of divine benevolence, we might expect that 
virtuous conduct would never be coupled with evil. But this 
notion does not accord with facts ; for the incidental evils 
connected with benevolent action are often the most painful 
in life. Indeed, in how many instances has doing good been 
rewarded by the loss of life, and under all the aggravations 
of suffering which malignant ingenuity could invent! And 
the fact has been, that those whose motives in doing good 



238 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

were the purest have suffered the most. Witness the life 
and the death of Him who knew no sin, and yet was led as 
a lamb to the slaughter. Since wickedness in this world is 
sometimes allowed to have the power of annoying goodness 
we might expect that the more disinterested the latter, the 
more malignant and persecuting would be the former, be- 
cause its own deformity is made more manifest. 

Bat the incidental evils connected with benevolent action 
are not limited to those resulting from the malice of the 
wicked. If, for instance, some huge system of iniquity has 
become incorporated into the very texture of society, benev- 
olence cannot root it out without producing many a severe 
laceration of individuals, who are incidentally connected with 
the system, but to whom no blame attaches. The history of 
the efforts that have been made to substitute Christianity for 
heathenism and other false religions, is full of examples illus- 
trative of this principle^ in conformity with the remarkable 
declaration of Christ, Think not that I am come to send peace 
on earth ; I came not to send peace, but a sword. Alike prolific 
of illustrations are all the great attempted reforms which the 
world has witnessed, whether for delivering religion from 
human corruptions, or eradicating slavery, or intemperance, 
or breaking the political yoke of the oppressor. In fine, no 
reasonable man ought to expect to do much good in this 
world, without suffering much himself and bringing some 
incidental suffering upon others. 

Now, although the evils that have been described are inci- 
dental, they belong to the constitution of this world, and, 
therefore, show the feelings and intentions of its Author, as 
much as those effects of his works which appear to be their 
final causes. But do not such evils, incidental to every event, 
indicate a feeling in the divine mind different from unmixed 



FEELINGS OF THE DEITY HOW SHOWN. 239 

benevolence ? Strictly speaking, these evils are not penal 
inflictions. But they certainly do not show in the Creator a 
simple desire to promote the happiness of men, by directly 
conferring it. They rather indicate a necessity, on account 
of some peculiarity in the character of man, of mingling 
severity with goodness in the divine conduct towards him. 

In thus representing incidental effects as indicative of the 
feelings of the Deity, I may seem to contradict my reason- 
ing under the first head, where I gave, as proof of God's 
benevolence, the fact that the direct object of every contri- 
vance is beneficial, and evil only incidental. But I did not 
mean to intimate that the incidental effects of a contrivance 
are no index of the feelings of its author, but only that the 
direct effects show more clearly than the incidental what are 
his wishes and intentions, especially if the former are the 
most numerous, important, and striking. Still, incidental 
effects are never without an object; and where they are evil, 
as in the case supposed, they indicate other feelings towards 
men, in the divine mind, than unmixed benevolence. For it 
is a strange limitation of God's wisdom and power to say, as 
some do, that the evils could not be prevented. 

It may be said, however, that if men only conform to the 
laws of nature, they will escape all the evils they suffer. On 
the other hand, I maintain, — and this constitutes my second 
argument to show that the divine benevolence is not unmixed, 
— I maintain that the highest virtue and the most consum- 
mate prudence cannot avoid all the evils of life. 

Such prudence and virtue will not secure any one against 
many destructive natural agencies and operations to which he 
is exposed. Miasms productive of fatal disease may con- 
taminate the atmosphere we breathe, unperceived by us ; 
poison may exist in the food which we take as our necessary 



4 






240 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

sustenance ; the mechanical violence of the elements, or of 
gravity, may crush us ; the lightning may smite us to the 
earth ; the wild beast may rush from his unnoticed lair as we 
pass ; or the deadly insect, or serpent, may inject its poison 
into our blood at an unexpected moment ; or the floods may 
overwhelm, or the fire consume us. 

Now, although prudence and virtue may defend us against 
many evils, they afford no security against such as I have 
named, in very many instances. We are often ignorant of 
their existence or proximity till we become their victims, and 
suffering, often intense, is the consequence. Indeed, the 
greatest of all physical evils — I mean death — is as sure to 
visit every son and daughter of Adam as any event can be ; 
and nothing but insanity, or its religious synonyme, fanati- 
cism, has ever pretended to be proof against disease and 
death. You cannot, indeed, point out any particular organ 
or agency, whose direct object is to produce disease and 
death ; but they are nevertheless the inevitable result of or- 
ganic operations and agencies in such a world as this. 

It will be said, perhaps, that the good resulting to the whole 
from even the most severe of these sufferings, overbalances 
the evil, and therefore they are indications of benevolence in 
such a world as ours. True, as things are, this may be so. 
But the question is, Why is there such a constitution given to 
nature as made it necessary to introduce disease, accident, 
and death ? Would not unmixed benevolence have conferred 
the good, but have withheld the evil ? Had there not been 
something in man's character requiring the discipline of 
trials, would pure benevolence have sent them ? At least, 
we should suppose that they might all have been avoided by 
prudence and virtue. Why should benevolence make such 
severe drawbacks upon the happiness even of the virtuous, 



STERILITY OF THE EARTH. 241 

if something were not radically wrong in the human con- 
stitution ? 

Thirdly. The great sterility of so large a part of the earth, 
and the necessity of severe bodily labor to secure sustenance 
from it, show us that the benevolence exhibited in nature and 
in man's condition is not unmixed. Though some limited 
regions are exuberantly fertile, the larger part of the earth 
yields up even a mere sustenance only after the severest 
labor. And the vast majority of the race can do nothing 
more than to obtain food for the body. The artificial state of 
most societies does, indeed, keep the lower classes much more 
depressed than a better state of the world would bring them 
into ; but at the best, nature unites with revelation in attesting 
the truth of the sentence passed upon man — In the sweat of 
thy face shalt thou eat thy bread. 

Nor is this necessity for severe labor confined to the culti- 
vation of the earth, but extends to all kinds of human pur- 
suits. Success, as a general fact, can be secured only by 
vigorous industry ; and often, in spite of their most honest and 
persevering efforts, men fail of securing even a competence 
for the support of themselves and their dependants. 

Some will say that all this arises from a necessity in the 
vciy nature of the case. But does not such a view limit the 
divine power and wisdom ? Could not God have prepared a 
world more paradisiacal than the present, where the earth 
should spontaneously yield her fruits, and pour out her hidden 
treasures at man's feet ? Who will deny this ? Why, then, 
has he not done it ? Because obviously a race so prone to 
evil as man, so incapable of maintaining his integrity in the 
lap of ease and indulgence, needs all this severe discipline to 
keep him where he ought to be. Here, then, we sec a reason 
why God must mingle seeming severity with benevolence. 
21 



242 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

The same thing is seen, in the fourth place, in the con- 
fined and depressed condition of the human mind in this 
world, and in the multiplied obstacles in the way of its culti- 
vation and enlargement. 

What a clog to the intellect is a body governed by gross 
appetites, and often stopping the ingress of truth, or pervert- 
ing its aspect, by disordered and imperfect senses ! Nearly 
one third of the time must that intellect sink into oblivion, 
while sleep recruits the physical powers. And nearly another 
third of life must be given to the wants of the body ; and as 
we have seen, the great mass of men are obliged to devote 
nearly their whole time to serve the necessary wants of the 
body. What an incalculable waste of mind does the world 
exhibit! And even when all artificial and unnecessary ob- 
structions are taken out of the way, what an immense waste 
must it always present, while in so gross a corporeal tenement ! 
for were it free to exhibit its true nature, we cannot doubt its 
power of unwearied and incessant activity. And such might 
have been its condition here, had it pleased infinite wisdom 
and benevolence. But what unmixed benevolence would 
have prompted, perfect wisdom would not permit to fallen 
man, 

I feel confident that my first two propositions are estab- 
lished, viz., that there is a predominance of benevolence in 
the arrangements and operations of the present world, and 
yet that it is not unmixed benevolence. I advance to a third 
proposition, which asserts that the same mixed system of good 
and evil) which now exists, has always prevailed since the 
earth was inhabited. 

Geology shows us the true succession of events since the 
first appearance of organic beings on the globe, but no chron- 
ological dates are registered on the rocks. And it is only 



IDENTITY OF PAST AND PRESENT LAWS. 243 

by observing processes in existing nature, analogous to those 
whose record is engraven on the solid strata, that we can 
infer that the years since life first appeared on the surface 
must have been very many. But however far back in the 
hoary past that event occurred, we have indisputable evidence 
that the same laws then controlled the operations of nature 
as now, and the result was the same mixture of good 
and evil. 

In the crystalline structure, and in the perfect crystals of 
the older rocks, we learn the laws which predominated at 
their production. And we find that the same chemical, elec- 
trical, and electro-magnetical influences presided over their 
formation as are now exhibited in the laboratory of the chem- 
ist or the laboratory of nature. Now, these crystals conduct 
us back much farther than the dawn of terrestrial life, though 
similar ones, and produced by the same laws, are found 
through the whole series of rocks, from the oldest to the 
newest. And I might appeal to many other facts in the 
earth's history, which demonstrate an identity between the 
physical laws that have controlled nature's processes in every 
period of past time. 

We have evidence, also, of the same identity in the laws 
of life, or organic laws. In the anatomical structure of the 
earliest animals and plants we find the same general type 
that pervades the present creation, modified only, as it now is, 
to meet peculiar circumstances. This is true not only of the 
osseous, but also of the muscular, circulatory, nervous, lym- 
phatic, and nutritive organs. Hence, as we might expect, 
we have evidence of the prevalence of the same functional 
or physiological laws then, as now. Respiration was per- 
formed, as it now is, and with the same effects. Vegetable 
and animal food was then, as now, masticated, digested, and 



244 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD*. 

assimilated ; and since animals possessed the same senses, we 
infer that their habits were essentially the same. There is 
not, indeed, any evidence that ancient animals and plants 
exhibited any peculiarities of structure or function, save those 
necessary to adapt them to the circumstances, so unlike the 
present, in many respects, in which they lived. 

We are sure, also, that death has ever reigned over all or- 
ganic nature. It has always been produced by the same 
causes, and attended by the same suffering. And its ravages 
were repaired by the same system of reproduction as now 
exists. All this we might presume would be the case, upon 
the discovery of an identity of laws, mechanical, chemical, 
and organic ; but we have direct evidence, also, in the count- 
less remains of animals and plants entombed in the rocks, 
more than twenty thousand species of which have been dis- 
interred by naturalists and described. 

I might multiply facts almost without number to sustain 
the position, that the same mixed system has ever prevailed 
upon the globe ; for geology is full of the details. But 
in a subsequent lecture, the subject will be more amply 
discussed. 

Such are the facts respecting the divine benevolence, as 
they are presented in the volume of nature. Though benev- 
olence decidedly predominates, it is modified by other divine 
attributes, and ever has been, since organic existence began 
upon the globe. Let us now, in the fourth place, see wliat 
inferences are fairly deducille from the whole subject. For 
those inferences, if I mistake not, will not only clear away 
every cloud from the divine benevolence, but throw much 
light upon man's condition. 

In the first place, the subject shows us that the world is not 
in a state of retribution. 



THE WORLD IN A FALLEN STATE. 245 

As a general fact, virtue is to some extent rewarded, and 
vice to some extent punished. But it is not always so. In- 
deed, the picture is sometimes reversed apparently ; and the 
good are afflicted because they do good, and the wicked 
triumph because they do evil. Evil abounds, but it is not so 
distributed as righteous retribution would award it ; neither is 
good. Since, therefore, God's justice must be infinitely per- 
fect, there must be some other object for the prevalence of 
good and evil in the world besides righteous retribution. 

Secondly. We learn from the subject that the world is in a 
fallen condition. 

I mean, that man has fallen from holiness and happiness. 
For the world is evidently not such a world as infinite wisdom 
and benevolence would prepare for a being perfectly holy and 
happy. Philosophize as we may, we cannot discover any 
reason why the abode of such a being should be filled with 
evils of almost every name — evils which the most consum- 
mate prudence and the most elevated virtue cannot wholly 
avoid — evils which often come upon the good man because 
he is eminent for holiness. But if man has fallen from origi- 
nal holiness and happiness by transgression, we might expect 
just such a world to be fitted up for his residence, because 
evil is indissolubly linked to sin, perhaps in the very nature 
of things, certainly by divine appointment. We know that 
it brings a curse upon every thing with which it is connected ; 
and here we see a reason for the blight that has marred some 
of the fairest features of nature, and introduced pain and 
r.ufTering into the animal frame, and brought a cloud over 
man's noble intellect, and hebetude over his moral powers. 
Such a fallen condition will explain what no other supposition 
can, viz., the clouded, fettered, and depressed condition of all 
organic nature. 

21* 



246 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

Yet, thirdly. We should not infer that man's condition was 
hopeless, but rather that mercy might be in store for him. 

The very fact that the world is not in a state of retribution 
would seem to afford hope that God had other purposes than 
punishment in allowing evil to be introduced. And then the 
vast predominance of benevolence and happiness around us 
cannot but inspire hope for the fallen. 

This will be still more manifest if we infer, and can show, 
fourthly, that the world is in a state of probation or trial. 

By this I mean that men are placed in a condition for the 
trial and discipline of their characters, in order to fit them 
for a higher state. If fallen and depraved, they need to pass 
through such a discipline before they can be prepared for that 
higher condition. And surely no one can observe the scenes 
through which all pass, without being struck with their em- 
inent adaptedness to train man to virtue and holiness. Until' 
we have been pupils for a time in this school, we are not fit 
even for the successive states in this life into which we pass ; 
much less for a higher condition. But there is a marvellous 
power in this discipline to prepare us for both, as vast multi- 
tudes have testified while they lived and when they died. 
Even death seems, so far as we can see, to be the only means 
by which a sinful being can be delivered from his stains ; and 
the dread of this terrific evil is one of the most powerful 
restraints upon vice, and stimulants to virtue. There is, in 
fact, no condition in which man is placed, no good or evil 
that he meets, which is not eminently adapted, if rightly im- 
proved, to discipline and strengthen his virtue. Hence we 
cannot doubt that this is the grand object of the present 
arrangements of the world. True, if misimproved, the same 
means become only a discipline in vice. But this is only in 
conformity with a general principle of the divine government, 



WHY DEATH BEFORE MAN. 247 

that the things which rightly used are highly salutary, are 
proportjujjably injurious when perverted. 

Fifthly. The subject shows us a reason why suffering and 
death prevailed in this world long before man's existence. 

God foresaw — I will not say foreordained, though he cer- 
tainly permitted it — that man would transgress; and, there- 
fore, he made a world adapted to a sinful fallen being, rather 
than to one pure and holy. If he had adapted it to an un- 
fallen being, and then changed it upon his apostasy, that 
change must have amounted to a new creation. For, as I 
have endeavored to show in a previous lecture, (Lecture III.,) 
the whole constitution of our world, and even its relations to 
other worlds, must have been altered to fit it for a being who 
had sinned. To have introduced such a one into a world 
fitted up for the perfectly holy, would have been a curse in- 
stead of a blessing. It was benevolence on the part of God 
to allow evil to abound in a world which was to be the resi- 
dence of a sinful creature ; for the -discipline of such a state 
was the only chance of his being rescued from the power of 
sin, and restored to the divine favor. 

It may be thought, however, inconsistent with divine benev- 
olence to place the inferior, irrational animals in a condition 
of suffering because man would transgress, and thus punish 
creatures incapable of sinning for his transgression. 

Animals do, indeed, suffer in such a world as ours ; but 
not as a punishment for their own or man's sin. The only 
question is, Do they suffer so much that their existence is not 
a blessing ? Surely experience will decide, without inquiring 
as to their future existence, that their enjoyments, as a gen- 
eral fact, vastly outweigh their sufferings ; and hence their 
existence indicates benevolence. It should also be recollected 
that their natures are adapted to a world of sin and death, 



248 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

and they are doubtless more happy here than they would be 
in a different condition, which might be more favorable to 
unfallen accountable beings. 

Finally. This subject harmonizes infinite and perfect be- 
nevolence in God with the existence of evil on earth. 

This is the grand problem of theology; and though I 
would not say that our reasoning clears it of all difficulties, 
yet it does seem to me that, by letting the light of this sub- 
ject fail upon the question, we come nearer to its solution 
than by viewing it in any other aspect. For this subject 
shows us that benevolence decidedly predominates in all the 
arrangements of the material universe, and then it assigns 
good reasons why this benevolence is not unmixed ; in other 
words, why severity is sometimes mingled with goodness. It 
shows us that God, with a prospective view of man's sin, 
adapted the world to a fallen being ; making it, instead of a 
place of unmingled happiness, a state of trial and discipline ; 
not as a full punishment, (for that is reserved to a future 
state,) but as an essential means of delivering this immortal 
being from his ruin and misery, and of fitting him for future 
and endless holiness and happiness. Thus, instead of indi- 
cating indifference or malevolence in God, because he intro- 
duced evil into the world, it is a striking evidence of his 
benevolence. Such a plan is, in fact, the conjoint result of 
infinite wisdom and benevolence for rescuing the miserable 
and the lost. Had God placed such a being in a world 
adapted to one perfectly holy, his sufferings would have been 
vastly greater, and his rescue hopeless. 

Thus far do both reason and revelation conduct us in a 
plain path ; and that, probably, is as far as is necessary for 
all the purposes of religion. Up to this point, infinite benev- 
olence pours its radiance upon the path, and we see good 



WHY DOES EVIL EXIST? 249 

reasons for the evils incident to this life ; nay, we see that 
they are the result of that same benevolence which strews 
the way with blessings ; that, in fact, they are only necessary 
means of the greatest blessings. I am aware that there is a 
question lying farther back, in the outskirts of metaphysical 
theology, which still remains unanswered, and probably never 
can be settled in this world, because some of its elements are 
beyond our reach. The inquisitive mind asks why it was 
necessary for infinite wisdom and power to introduce evil, or 
allow it to be introduced, into any system of created things. 
Could not such natures have been bestowed upon creatures, 
that good only might have been their portion ? A plausible 
answer is, that evil exists because it can ultimately be made 
subservient of greater good, taking the whole universe into 
account, than another system. Certainly to fallen man we 
have reason to believe natural evils are the grand means of 
his highest good ; and hence we derive an argument for the 
same conclusion in respect to the whole system of evil. In- 
deed, such are the divine attributes, that it is absurd to sup- 
pose God would create any system which was not the best 
possible in existing circumstances. But even though we 
cannot solve these questions in their abstract form, and as 
applied to the whole creation, it is sufficient for every prac- 
tical purpose of religion if we can show, as we have endeav- 
ored to do in this lecture, how the present system of the world 
for a fallen being illustrates, instead of disproving, the divine 
benevolence. 

Here, then, is the resolution of some of the darkest enig- 
mas of human existence, which philosophy, unaided by reve- 
lation, has never solved. Here we get hold of the thread 
that conducts us through the most crooked labyrinths of life, 



250 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 

and enables us to let into the deepest dungeons of despond- 
ency and doubt, the light of hope and of heaven. 

Here, too, we find the powerful glads by which we can 
pierce the clouds that have so long obscured the full-orbed 
splendors of the divine benevolence. To some, indeed, — 
and they sagacious philosophers, — that cloud has seemed 
surcharged only with vengeance. And even to those who 
have caught occasional glimpses of the noble orb behind, the 
cloud over its face has always seemed to be tinged with 
some angry rays. Indeed, so long as this is a sinful state, 
justice will not allow all the glories of the divine goodness to 
be revealed. And yet, through the glass which philosophy 
and faith have put into our hands, we can see that the disk 
is a full-orbed circle, and that no spots mar and darken its 
clear surface. How gloriously, then, when all those clouds 
shall have passed away, and the last taint of evil shall have 
been blotted out by the final conflagration, shall that sun, in 
the new heavens, send down its light and heat upon the new 
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness ! 

On the other hand, how sad the prospect which the analo- 
gies of this subject open before him who misimproves his 
earthly probation, and goes out of the world unprepared for a 
higher and purer state of existence ! If we can see reasons 
why on earth God should mingle goodness ana 1 severity in 
this man's lot, we can also see reasons why the manifesta- 
tions of benevolence should all be withdrawn when he passes 
into a state of retribution. For if an individual can resist the 
mighty influences for good which the present state of disci- 
pline affords, and only become worse under them all, his case 
is utterly hopeless, and Heaven can do no more, consistently 
with the eternal principles of the divine government, to save 



A FATHER INFLICTING PUNISHMENT. 251 

nim. Infinite benevolence gives him over, and no longer 
nolds back the sword of retributive justice. Nay, the justice 
which inflicts the punishment is only benevolence in another 
form. And this it is that makes the infliction intolerable. 
How much more terrible to the wayward child are the blows 
inflicted by a weeping, affectionate father, than if received 
from an enemy! God is that affectionate Father; and he 
punishes only because he loves the universe more than the 
individual ; and he has exhausted the stores of infinite mercy 
in vain to save him. Wicked men sometimes tell us that they 
are not afraid to trust themselves in the hands of infinite be- 
nevolence ; whereas it is eminently this quality of the divine 
character which, above all others, they have reason to fear. 
For if, even in this world of probation and hope, God finds it 
necessary to mingle so much severity with goodness, what 
but a cup of unmingled bitterness shall be put into his hands 
who goes into eternity unrenewed and unpardoned, and finds 
that even infinite benevolence has become his eternal enemy ! 



( 252 ) 



LECTURE VIII. 

UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN AND OPERATION IN 
ALL AGES OE THE WORLD'S HISTORY. 

Contrivance, adaptation, and design are some of the most 
striking features of the natural world. They are obvious 
throughout the whole range of creation, in the minutest as 
well as in the most magnificent objects ; in the most compli- 
cated as well as in the most simple. So universally present 
are they, that whenever we meet with any thing in nature 
which seems imperfectly adapted to other objects, as the or- 
gan of an animal or plant, which exhibits malformation, it 
excites general attention, and the mere child need not be told 
that, in its want of adaptation to other objects, it is an excep- 
tion in the natural world. 

In order to illustrate what I mean by contrivance, adapta- 
tion, and design, let me refer to a familiar example — the 
human eye. Made up of three coats and three humors, of 
solids and fluids, of nerves, blood-vessels, and muscles* and 
rivalling the most perfect optical instrument, it must have 
required the most consummate contrivance to give the requi- 
site quantity and position to parts so numerous and unlike, for 
producing the phenomena of vision. Yet how perfectly it is 
done ! How few, out of the hundreds of millions of eyes of men 
and other animals, fail of vision through any natural defect ! 

No less marvellous are the adaptations of the eye. In 
order to be adapted to the wonderful effect which we call 



STRUCTURE OF THE EYE. 253 

light, its coats and humors must be transparent, and possess 
a certain density and opacity, that the rays may form an 
image on the retina. Yet to prevent confusion in the image, 
the transparency must be confined to the central parts of the 
eye, and a dark plexus of veins and muscles must be so situ- 
ated as to absorb the scattering rays. In order to adapt the 
eye to different distances, and to the greater or less intensity 
of the light, delicate muscles must be so situated as to con- 
tract and dilate the pupil, and lengthen and shorten the axis. 
That the eye might be directed to different objects, strong 
muscles must be attached to its posterior surface ; and that 
the eyelid might defend it from injuries in front, a very pecu- 
liar muscle must give it power to close. No less perfect is 
the adaptation of the eye to the atmosphere, or, rather, there 
is a mutual adaptation ; and it is as proper to say that the 
atmosphere is adapted to the eye, as that the eye is adapted 
to the atmosphere. In like manner, there is a striking rela- 
tion between the eye and the sun and other heavenly bodies, 
and between the eye and day and night ; so that we cannot 
doubt but they were made for one another. We might, in- 
deed, extend the relations of the eye to every object in the 
universe ; and the same may be said of every organ of plants 
and animals. The adaptation between them is as wide as 
creation. And it is the wonderful harmony between so many 
millions of objects that makes us feel that infinite wisdom 
alone could have produced it. 

The design of the multiplied contrivances and adaptations 
exhibited by the eye is too obvious to need a formal state- 
ment. Comparatively few understand the wonderful mechan- 
ism of the eye ; but we should consider it proof of idiotism, 
or insanity, for the weakest mind to doubt what is the object 
of the eye. This is, to be sure, a striking example. But 
22 



254 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

out of the many organs of animals, how few are there of 
which we do not see the design ! And as the subject is more 
examined, the few excepted cases are made still fewer. 
They are more numerous in plants, because we cannot so 
well understand them, and because of their microscopic little- 
ness. They are so few, however, throughout all nature, that 
they never produce a doubt that, for every individual thing in 
creation, there is a distinct object. If we confine our views 
to the most simple parts of matter, we can see design in 
them. If we take a wider view, and examine those minor 
systems which are produced by the grouping of the elements 
of matter, we shall see design there ; and if we rise still 
higher in our examination, and compare systems still more 
extensive, until we group all material things, wise and beauti- 
ful design is still inscribed upon all. In fine, creation is but 
a series of harmonies, wheel within wheel, in countless vari- 
ety, yet all forming one vast and perfect machine. Examine 
nature as widely and as minutely as we may, we never find 
one part clashing with another part ; no laws, governing one 
portion of creation, different from those governing the others. 
Amid nature's infinitely diversified productions and opera- 
tions we find but one original model or pattern. As Dr. 
Paley finely expresses it, " We never get amongst such origi- 
nal or totally different modes of existence as to indicate that 
we are come into the province of a different Creator, or under 
the direction of a different will." All appears to have been 
the work of one mighty mind, capable of devising and creat- 
ing the vast system so perfectly that every part shall beauti- 
fully harmonize with every other part ; a mind capable of 
holding in its capacious grasp at once the entire system, and 
seeing the relation and dependence of all its parts, from the 
minutest atom up to the mightiest world. In short, the unity 



PAST SYSTEMS OF ORGANIC LIFE. 255 

of design which pervades all creation is perfect, more so 
than we witness in the most finished machine of human 
construction ; for 

"In human works, though labored on with pain, 
A thousand movements scarce one object gain ; 
In God's, one single can its end produce, 
Yet serves to second too some other use." 

Such are the wonderful contrivance, adaptation, and design 
which the material world every where exhibits. But the 
geologist carries us back through periods of immense an- 
tiquity, and digs out from the deep strata evidences of other 
systems of organic life, which have flourished and passed 
away; other economies, which have existed on the globe 
anterior to the present. And how was it with these ? Had 
they any relation to the existing system ? Were they gov- 
erned by different laws, or are they all but parts of one great 
and harmonious system, embracing the whole of the earth's 
past duration ? We could not decide these questions before- 
hand ; but geology brings to light unequivocal evidence that 
the latter supposition is the true one ; that is, in the language 
of the poet, — 

" All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
"Whose body nature is, and God the soul." 

To present the evidence of this conclusion will be my object 
in this lecture. 

In the first place, the laws of chemistry and crystallography, 
electricity and magnetism, have ever been the same in all past 
conditions of the earth. 

Chemistry has attained to such a degree of perfection that 



256 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

the analyst can now determine the composition of the various 
vegetable, animal, and mineral substances which he meets, 
with an extreme degree of accuracy. In many instances, he 
can do this in two ways. He can always separate the ele- 
ments which exist in a compound, and ascertain their relative 
quantity ; and this is called analysis. And sometimes he can 
take those elements and cause them to unite, so as to form a 
particular compound ; and this is called synthesis. By these 
methods he has ascertained that, amid the vast variety of sub- 
stances in nature, there are only about sixty-four which cannot 
be reduced to a more simple form, and are therefore called 
elements, or simple substances. Now, the chemist finds that, 
when these elements unite to form compounds, certain fixed 
laws are invariably followed. They combine in definite 
quantities, which are always the same, or some multiple of 
the same weight ; so that each element has its peculiar and 
invariable combining weight ; and it cannot be made to com- 
bine in any other proportion. You may mix two or more 
elements together in any proportion, but it is only a certain 
definite quantity of each that will combine, while the rest 
will remain in excess. Hence the same compound substance, 
from whatever part of the world it comes, or under however 
diverse circumstances produced, consists of the same ingre- 
dients in the same proportion. These laws are followed with 
mathematical precision, and we have reason to believe that 
the same compound substance, produced in different parts of 
the world, never differs in its composition by the smallest con- 
ceivable particle. Indeed, with the exception of the plan- 
etary motions and crystallography, chemical combination is 
the most perfect example of practical mathematics to be 
found in nature. 

Such are the laws which the chemist finds invariably to 



CHEMICAL LAWS. 257 

regulate all the changes that now take place in the constitution 
of bodies. What evidence is there that the same laws have 
ever prevailed ? In the rocks we have chemical compounds, 
produced in all ages of the world's history, since fire and 
water began to form solid masses. Now, these may be, and 
have been, analyzed ; and the same laws of definite propor- 
tion in the ingredients, which now operate, are found to have 
controlled their formation. The oldest granite and gneiss, 
which must have been the earliest rocks produced, are just as 
invariable in their composition as the most recent salt formed 
in the laboratory. And the same is true of the silicates, the 
carbonates, the sulphates, the oxides, chlorides, fluorides, and 
other compounds which constitute the rocks of different ages. 
We never find any produced under the operation of dif- 
ferent laws. 

Now, the almost invariable opinion among chemists is, that 
the reason why the elements unite thus definitely is, that they 
are in different electrical states, and therefore attract one 
another. Hence the most important laws of electricity have 
been coeval with those of chemistry ; indeed, they are iden- 
tical ; nor can we doubt, if such be the fact, that every other 
electrical law has remained unchanged from the beginning. 
And from the intimate connection, if not complete identity, 
between electricity and magnetism, it is impossible to doubt 
that J;he laws which regulate the latter are of equal antiquity 
with those of the former. Indeed, we find evidence in all the 
rocks, especially those which are prismatic and concretionary, 
of the active influence of galvanism and electro-magnetism in 
their production. 

The reasoning is equally decisive to prove the unchanging 
character of the laws which regulate the formation of crystals. 
The chemist finds that the same substance, when it crystal- 
22* 



258 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

lizes, invariably takes the same geometrical forms. The 
nucleus or primary form, with a few exceptions, of no im- 
portance in the present argument, to which all these second- 
ary forms may be reduced by change, is one particular solid, 
with unvarying angles ; and all the secondary forms, built 
upon the primary, correspond in their angles. In short, in 
crystallography we have another example of perfect practical 
mathematics, as perfect as the theory. 

Now, the oldest rocks in the globe contain crystals, and so 
do the rocks of all ages, sometimes of the same kind as those 
produced in the chemist's laboratory. And they are found to 
correspond precisely. It matters not whether they were the 
produce of nature's laboratory countless ages ago, or of the 
skill of the nineteenth century, — the same mathematics ruled 
in their formation with a precision which infinite wisdom alone 
could secure. 

In the second place, the laws of meteorology have ever been 
the same as at present. 

Under meteorological laws I include all atmospheric phe- 
nomena. And although we have no direct proof from geol- 
ogy in respect to the more rare of these phenomena, such as 
the aurora borealis and australis, and transient meteors, yet 
in respect to the existence of clouds, wind, and rain, the evi- 
dence is quite striking. In several places in Europe, and in 
many in this country, are found, upon layers of the new red 
sandstone, the distinct impressions of rain drops, made when 
the rock was fine mud. They correspond precisely with the 
indentations which falling rain-drops now make upon mud, 
and they show us that the phenomena of clouds and storms 
existed in that remote period, and that the vapor was con- 
densed as at present. In the fact that the animals entombed 
in the rocks of various ages are found to have had organs of 



AGENTS OF CHANGE. 259 

respiration, we also infer the existence of an atmosphere anal- 
ogous to that which we now breathe. The rain-drops enable 
us to proceed one step farther ; for often they are elongated 
in one direction, showing that they struck the ground obliquely, 
doubtless in consequence of wind. In short, the facts stated 
enable us to infer, with strong probability, that atmospheric 
phenomena were then essentially the same as at present ; and 
analogy leads us to a similar conclusion as to all the past pe- 
riods of the world's history, certainly since animals were placed 
upon it. What a curious register do these rain-drops present 
us ! an engraving on stone of a shower that fell thousands 
and thousands of ages ago ! They often become, too, an 
anemoscope, pointing out the direction of the wind, while the 
petrified surface shows us just how many drops fell, quite as 
accurately as the most delicate pluviameter. What events in 
the earth's pre-Adamic history would seem less likely to come 
down to us than the pattering of a shower ? 

In the third place, the agents of geological change appear 
to have been always the same on the earth. 

Whoever goes into a careful examination of the rocks will 
soon become satisfied that no fragment of them all remains in 
the condition in which it was originally created. Whatever 
was the original form in which matter was produced, there is 
no longer any example of it to be found. The evidence of 
these changes is as strong almost as that constant changes are 
going on in human society. And we find them constantly 
progressing among the rocks, as well as among men ; nor do 
the agents by which they are produced appear to have been 
ever different from those now in operation. The two most 
important are heat and water ; and it is doubtful whether there 
is a single particle of the globe which has not experienced the 
metamorphic action of the one or the other. Indeed, it is 



260 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

nearly certain that every portion of the globe has been melted, 
if not volatilized. All the unstratified rocks have certainly 
been fused, and probably all the stratified rocks originated 
from the unstratified, and have been modified by water and heat. 
In many of these rocks, especially the oldest, we perceive evi- 
dence of the joint action of both these agents. Evidently 
they were once aqueous deposits ; but they appear to have 
been subsequently subjected to powerful heat. As we ascend 
on the scale of the stratified rocks, the marks of fire diminish, 
and those of water multiply, so that the latest are mere me- 
chanical or chemical depositions from water. 

In these facts, then, we see proof that heat and water have 
been the chief agents of geological change since the first 
formation of a solid crust on the globe ; for some of the rocks 
now accessible, as already stated, date their origin at that 
early period. We might also trace back the agency of heat 
much farther, if the hypothesis adopted by not a few eminent 
geologists be true, which supposes the earth to have been 
once in a gaseous state from intense heat. But to press this 
point will add very little to my argument, even could I sus- 
tain it by plausible reasoning. I will only say, that, so far as 
we know any thing of the state of the earth previous to the 
consolidation of its crust, heat appears to have been the chief 
agent concerned in its geological changes. 

Among other agencies of less importance, that have always 
operated geologically, is gravity. Its chief effect, at present 
is to bring the earth's surface nearer and nearer to a level, by 
causing the materials, which other agencies have loosened 
from its salient parts, to subside into its cavities and valleys 
It also condenses many substances from a gaseous to a liquid 
or solid state, especially those deep in the earth's crust, and 
thus brings the particles more within the reach of cohesive 



EARLY AGENCIES. 261 

attraction and chemical affinity, often changing the constitu- 
tion, and always the solidity, of bodies. And in the position 
of the ancient mechanical rocks, occupying as they do the 
former basins of the surface, and in the superior consolida- 
tion of the earlier strata, we find proof of the action of gravity 
in all past geological time. 

Electricity too, in the form of galvanism, has never been 
idle. We have reason to think that it operates at this moment 
in accumulating metallic ores in veins ; and this segregation 
appears to have operated in all ages, not only in filling veins, 
but also, probably, in giving a laminated character and jointed 
structure to mountains of slate, as well as a concretionary 
and prismatic form to others. 

Last, though not least, we may reckon among the agents 
of geological change the forces of cohesion and affinity. 
When water and heat, gravity and galvanism, have brought 
the atoms of bodies into a proper state, these agents are al- 
ways ready to change their form and constitution ; and they 
have ever been at hand to operate by the same laws, and we 
witness their effects in the oldest as well as the newest rocks 
found in the earth's crust. This point, however, has been 
sufficiently considered, when treating of the unvarying uni- 
formity of the laws of chemistry and crystallography. 

But though the nature of the agencies above considered has 
never changed, the intensity or amount of their action has 
varied ; how much is a point not yet settled among geologists. 
Some regard that intensity, as it has existed during the present 
or alluvial period, as a standard for all preceding periods ; 
that is, the intensity of these forces has never varied more 
during any period of the earth's history than it has since the 
alluvial period commenced. Most geologists, however, regard 
this as an extreme opinion, and think they see evidence in 



262 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

geology of a far greater intensity in these agencies in past 
periods than exists at present. They think they have proof 
that the world was once only a molten mass of matter, and 
some evidence that previously it was in a state of vapor. 
They believe that vast mountains, and even continents, have 
sometimes been thrown up from the ocean's bed by a single 
mighty paroxysmal effort ; and such effects they know to be 
far greater than the causes of change now in operation can 
produce, without a vast increase of their intensity. But this 
question need neither be discussed nor decided for the sake 
of my present argument, since my object is to prove an iden- 
tity in the nature and laws, not in the intensity, of geological 
agencies. 

In the fourth place, the laws of zoology and botany have 
always been the same on the globe. 

An examination of the animals now living, amounting to 
some hundred thousand species, perhaps to one or two mil- 
lions, shows that they may be arranged in four great classes. 
The first class embraces the vertebral animals, distinguished 
by having a vertebral column, or back-bone, a regular skele- 
ton, and a regular nervous system. It comprehends all the 
quadrupeds and bipeds, with man at their head, and is much 
superior to all other classes in complexity of organization and 
strength of the mental powers. The second class embraces 
the mollusks, or animals inhabiting shells. They are desti- 
tute of a spinal marrow, and for the most part their muscles 
are attached to the external covering, called the shell, al- 
though this shell is sometimes internal. The third class are 
called articulated animals, having envelopes connected by 
annulated plates, or rings. It includes such animals as the 
lobster, bloodsucker, spider, and insects generally. The 
fourth class have a radiated structure, and often resemble 



THE GREAT CLASSES ALWAYS EXISTED. 263 

plants, or their habitation is a stony structure. Hence they 
are sometimes called zoophytes, which means animal plants ; 
or lithophytes, which means stony plants. They swarm in 
the ocean, and some of them build up those extensive stony 
structures called coral reefs. 

Now, if we examine the descriptions of the organic remains 
in the rocks, we find that in all ages of the world these four 
great classes of animals have existed. But in the earliest 
times, the three last classes — the mollusks, the articulated, 
and the radiated tribes — vastly preponderated, while the ver- 
tebral class had only a few representatives ; and it is not till 
we rise as high as the new red sandstone, that we meet with 
any, except fishes, save a few batrachians in the old red sand- 
stone, and the carboniferous group, detected alone by their 
tracks. Then the reptiles began to appear in abundance, 
with tortoises and enormous birds of a low organization, but 
no mammiferous animal is found, until we reach the oolite ; 
and scarcely any till we rise to the tertiary strata, when they 
became abundant ; but not so numerous as at present, though 
for the most part of larger size. Thus we find that the more 
perfect animals have been developed gradually, becoming 
more and more complex as we rise on the scale of the rocks. 
But in the three other classes, there does not appear to have 
been much advance upon the original types, although in num- 
bers and variety there has been a great increase. 

The plants now growing upon the globe, amounting proba- 
bly to nearly one hundred thousand species, are divided into 
two great classes, by a very decided character. Some of 
them have distinct flowers, and others are destitute of them. 
The former are called phenogamian, or flowering plants ; and 
the latter cryptogamian, or flowerless plants. 

At present, the flowering plants very much predominate in 



264 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

the flora of every country. But in the earliest periods of 
organic existence, the reverse was the case. We find, indeed, 
but very few flowering plants, and these of a character some- 
what intermediate between flowering and flowerless ; such 
as the conifer® and cycadese, including the pine tribe. A 
few palms appeared almost as early, and some other monocot- 
yledons. But most of the dicotyledons did not appear till the 
tertiary period, where more than two hundred species have 
been found. Of the three hundred species found in and be- 
neath the carboniferous group, two thirds are tree ferns, or 
gigantic equisetacese. More than one third of the entire flora 
of the secondary formation consists of cycadeae ; whereas, 
this family of plants forms not more than the two thousandth 
part of the existing flora. In short, we find the more perfect 
plants as well as animals to be few in the earliest periods, and 
to have been gradually introduced up to the present time. 
But as to the flowerless plants, most of them seem to have 
been as perfect at first as they now are. 

These facts teach us conclusively that the outlines of or- 
ganic life on the globe have always been the same ; that the 
great classes of animals and plants have always had their rep- 
resentatives, and that the variations which have been intro- 
duced, have been merely adaptations to the varying condition 
of the earth's surface. The higher and more complex na- 
tures, both of animals and plants, were not introduced at first, 
because the surface was not adapted to their existence ; and 
they were brought in only as circumstances, favorable to their 
development, prepared the way. * 

There is another fact of great interest on this subject. Even 
a cursory examination of the animals and plants now on the 
globe, shows such a gradation of their characters that they 
form a sort of chain, extending from the most to the least per- 



LOST TRIBES FOUND IN THE ROCKS. 265 

feet species. But we see at once that the links of this chain 
are of very unequal length ; or, rather, that there are in some 
instances wide intervals between the nearest species, as if one 
or more links had dropped out. How remarkable that some 
of these lost links should be found among the fossil species ! 
I will refer to a few examples. 

Among existing animals no genera or tribes are more widely- 
separated than those with thick skins, denominated pachyder- 
mata ; such as the rhinoceros and the elephant. But among 
the fossil animals of the tertiary strata, this tribe of animals 
was much more common ; and many of them fill up the 
blanks in the existing families, and thus render more perfect 
and uniform the great chain of being which binds together 
into one great system the present and past periods of organic 
life. 

A similar case occurs among fossil plants. In tropical cli- 
mates we find a few species — not much over twenty — of a 
singular family of plants, the cycadese connecting the great fam- 
ilies of coniferse, or dicotyledons, with the palms, which are mo- 
nocotyledonous, and the ferns, which are acotyledonous. The 
chasm, however, between those great and dissimilar classes 
of plants is but imperfectly filled by the few living species of 
cycadese. But of the fossil species hitherto found above the 
coal formation, almost one half are cycadese ; so that here, 
too, the lost links of the chain are supplied. 

" Facts like these," says Dr. Buckland, " are inestimably 
precious to the natural theologian, for they identify, as it 
were, the Artificer, by details of manipulation throughout his 
works. They appeal to the physiologist, in language more 
commanding than human eloquence ; the voice of very stocks 
and stones, that have been buried for countless ages in the 
deep recesses of the earth, proclaiming the universal agency 
23 



266 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

of one all-directing, all-sustaining Creator, in whose will and 
power these harmonious systems originated, and by whose 
universal providence they are, and have at all times been, 
maintained." — Bridgeivater Treatise, vol. i. p. 502. 

One other fact, showing the identity of former zoological 
laws with those which now prevail, must not be omitted. 1 
refer to the existence on the globe in all past periods of or- 
ganic life of the two great classes of carnivorous and herbivo- 
rous animals ; and they have always existed, too, in about the 
same proportion. To the harmony and happiness of the pres- 
ent system, we know that the existence and proper relative 
number of these different classes are indispensable. For in 
order that the greatest possible number of animals that live 
on vegetable food should exist, they must possess the power 
of rapid multiplication, so that there should be born a much 
larger number than is necessary to people the earth. But if 
there existed no carnivorous races to keep in check this re- 
dundancy of population, the world would soon become so filled 
with the herbivorous races that famine would be the conse- 
quence, and thus a much greater amount of suffering result 
than the sudden death inflicted by carnivorous races now pro- 
duces. To preserve, then, a proper balance between the dif- 
ferent species is, doubtless, the object of the creation of the 
carnivorous. This system has been aptly denominated " the 
police of nature." And we find it to have always existed. 
The earliest vertebral animals — the sauroid fishes and sharks 
— were of this description. The sharks have always lived, 
but the sauroid fishes became less numerous when other ma- 
rine saurians were created ; and when they both nearly disap- 
peared, during the tertiary period, other predaceous families 
were introduced, more like those now in existence. 

The history of the mollusks, or animals inhabiting shells, 



ANATOMICAL LAWS THE SAME. 267 

furnishes us with an example still more striking. These ani- 
mals, as they now exist, are divisible into the two great classes 
of carnivorous and herbivorous species, being distinguished 
by their anatomical structure ; and so has it ever been. In 
the fossiliferous rocks below the tertiary, we find immense 
numbers of nautili, ammonites, and other kindred genera of 
polythalamous shells, called cephalopods, which were all car- 
nivorous. And when they nearly disappeared with the creta- 
ceous period, there was created another race with carnivorous 
propensities and organs, called trachelipods ; and those con- 
tinue still to swarm in the ocean. Had they not appeared 
when the cephalopods passed away, the herbivorous tribes 
would have multiplied to such an extent as ultimately to de- 
stroy marine vegetation, and bring on famine among them- 
selves. 

These examples are sufficient to prove the existence of the 
carnivorous and herbivorous races in all ages and in about 
the same relative numbers. And it certainly furnishes most 
decisive evidence of the oneness of all these systems of or- 
ganic life on the globe. 

In the fifth place, the laws of anatomy have always been 
the same since organic structures began to exist. 

It had long been known that the organs of animals were 
beautifully adapted to perform the functions for which they 
were intended. But it was not" till the investigations of 
Baron Cuvier, within the last half century, that it was known 
how mathematically exact is the relation between the different 
parts of the animal frame, nor how precise are the laws of 
variation in the different species, by which they are fitted tc 
different elements, climates, and food. It is now well known, 
that each animal structure contains a perfect system of corre- 
lation, and yet the whole forms a harmonious part of the en- 



268 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

tire animal system on the globe. But the language of Cuvier 
himself will best elucidate this subject, so far as it is capable 
of popular explanation. 

" Every organized individual," says he, " forms an entire 
system of its own ; all the parts of which mutually corre- 
spond, and concur to produce a certain definite purpose, by 
reciprocal reaction, or. by combining towards the same end. 
Hence none of these separate parts can change their forms 
without a corresponding change in the other parts of the same 
animal, and consequently each of these parts, taken sepa- 
rately, indicates all the other parts to which it has belonged. 
Thus, if the viscera of any animal are so organized as only 
to be fitted for the digestion of recent flesh, it is also requisite 
that the jaws should be so constructed as to fit them for de- 
vouring prey ; the claws must be constructed for seizing and 
tearing it to pieces ; the teeth for cutting and dividing its 
flesh ; the entire system of the limbs, or organs of motion, for 
pursuing and overtaking it ; and the organs of sense, for dis- 
covering it at a distance. Nature, also, must have endowed 
the brain'of the animal with instinct sufficient for concealing 
itself, and for laying plans to catch its necessary victims. 

" In order that the jaw may be well adapted for laying hold 
of objects, it is necessary that its condyle should have a cer- 
tain form ; that the resistance, the moving power, and the 
fulcrum, should have a certain relative position with respect 
to each other, and that the temporal muscles should be of a 
certain size ; the hollow, or depression, too, in which these 
muscles are lodged, must have a certain depth ; and the zygo- 
matic arch, under which they pass, must not only have a cer- 
tain degree of convexity, but it must be sufficiently strong to 
support the action of the masseter. 

4t To enable the animal to carry off its prey when seized, a 
\ 



COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 269 

corresponding force is requisite in the muscles which elevate 
the head ; and this necessarily gives rise to a determinate 
form of the vertebrse, to which these muscles are attached, 
and of the occiput into which they are inserted. 

" In order that the teeth of a carnivorous animal may be 
able to cut the flesh, they require to be sharp, more or less so 
in proportion to the greater or less quantity of flesh which 
they have to cut. It is requisite that their roots should be 
solid and strong, in proportion to the greater quantity and size 
of the bones which they have to break to pieces. The whole 
of these circumstances must necessarily influence the devel- 
opment and form of all the parts which contribute to move 
the jaws. 

" To enable the claws of a carnivorous animal to seize its 
prey, a considerable degree of mobility is necessary in their 
paws and toes, and a considerable strength in the claws them- 
selves. From these circumstances, there necessarily result 
certain determinate forms in all the bones of their paws, and 
in the distribution of the muscles and tendons by which they 
are moved. The fore arm must possess a certain facility of 
moving in various directions, and consequently requires cer- 
tain determinate forms in the bones of which it is composed. 
As the bones of the fore arm are articulated with the arm 
bone, or humerus, no change can take place in the form or 
structure of the former, without occasioning correspondent 
changes in the form of the latter. The shoulder-blade, also, 
or scapula, requires a correspondent degree of strength in all 
animals destined for catching prey, by which it likewise must 
necessarily have an appropriate form. The play and action 
of all these parts require certain proportions in the muscles 
which set them in motion, and the impressions formed by these 
muscles must still farther determine the form of all these bones. 



270 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

" After these observations it will easily be seen that similar 
conclusions may be drawn with respect to the hinder limbs 
of carnivorous animals, which require particular conforma- 
tions to fit them for rapidity of motion in general ; and that 
similar considerations must influence the forms and con- 
nections of the vertebras and other bones constituting the 
trunk of the body, and to fit them for flexibility and readiness 
of motion in all directions. The bones, also, of the nose, of 
the orbit, and of the ears, require certain forms and structures 
to fit them for giving perfection to the senses of smell, sight, 
and hearing, so necessary to animals of prey. In short, the 
shape and structure of the teeth regulate the forms of the 
condyle, of the shoulder-blade, and the claws, in the same 
manner as the equation of a curve regulates all its other 
properties ; and as, in regard to a particular curve, all its 
properties may be ascertained by assuming each separate 
property as the foundation of a particular equation, in the 
same manner a claw, a shoulder-blade, a condyle, a leg, an 
arm bone, or any other bone-, separately considered, enables 
us to discover the description of teeth to which they have 
belonged ; and so, also, reciprocally, we may determine the 
form of the other bones from the teeth. Thus commencing 
our investigations by a careful survey of any one bone by 
itself, a person who is sufficiently master of the laws of or- 
ganic structure may, as it were, reconstruct the whole animal 
to which that bone had belonged." 

After applying the same principle to animals with hoofs, 
Cuvier comes to a conclusion even more surprising. " Hence," 
says he, " any one who observes merely the print of a cloven 
hoof, may conclude that it has been left by a ruminant ani-" 
mal, and regard the conclusion as equally certain with any 
other in physics or in morals. Consequently this single 



CORRELATIONS. 271 

footmark clearly indicates to the observer the forms of the 
teeth, of all the leg bones, thighs, shoulders, and of the trunk 
of the body of the animal which left the mark. It is much 
surer than all the marks of Zadig. 

" By thus employing the method of observation, where 
theory is no longer able to direct our views, we procure 
astonishing results. The smallest fragment of bone, even 
the most apparently insignificant apophysis, possesses a fixed 
and determinate character relative to the class, order, genus, 
and species of the animal to which it belonged ; insomuch 
that when we find merely the extremity of a well-preserved 
bone, we are able, by a careful examination, assisted by anal- 
ogy and exact comparison, to determine the species to which 
it once belonged, as certainly as if we had the entire animal 
before us. Before venturing to put entire confidence in this 
method of investigation, in regard to fossil bones, I have very 
frequently tried it with portions of bones belonging to well- 
known animals, and always with such complete success, that 
I now entertain no doubts with regard to the results which it 
affords." 

The remarkable correlation between the parts of existing 
animals having been thus proved by the most rigid and satis- 
factory tests, we shall inquire with interest for the result, 
when Cuvier applied the same principles to the fossil animals. 
If the laws of anatomical structure were the same when these 
extinct races lived as they now are, these principles will apply 
equally well to the bones found in the rocks ; and though 
often only scattered fragments are brought to light, the anat- 
omist will be able to reconstruct the whole animal, and pre- 
sent him to our view. Cuvier was the first who solved this 
problem. The quarries around Paris had furnished a vast 
number of hones of strange animals, nnd these were thrown 



272 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

promiscuously into the collections of that city. Well pre- 
pared by previous study, this distinguished anatomist went 
among them with the inquiry, Can these bones live ? The 
spirit of scientific prophecy was upon him, and, as he uttered 
his inspirations, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and 
the bones came together, bone to his bone. And the sinews 
and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them. 
" I found myself," says he, " as if placed in a charnel-house, 
surrounded by mutilated fragments of many hundred skele- 
tons of more than twenty kinds of animals, piled confusedly 
around me. The task assigned me was to restore them all 
to their original position. At the voice of comparative anat- 
omy, every bone and fragment of a bone resumed its place. 
I cannot find words to express the pleasure I experienced in 
seeing, as I discovered one character, how all the conse- 
quences which I predicted from it were successively con- 
firmed ; the feet were found in accordance with the characters 
announced by the teeth ; the teeth in harmony with those 
indicated beforehand by the feet ; the bones of the legs and 
thighs, and every connecting portion of the extremities, were 
found set together precisely as I had arranged them, before 
my conjectures were verified by the discovery of the parts 
entire ; in short, each species was, as it were, reconstructed 
from a single one of its component elements." 

It is hardly necessary to say that, since this first successful 
experiment, the same principles have been more thoroughly 
investigated and extended with the same success into every 
department of fossil organic nature. The results which have 
crowned the labors of such men as Agassiz, Ehrenberg, 
Kaup, Goldfuss, Bronn, Blainville, Brongniart, Deshayes, and 
D'Orbigny, on the continent of Europe, and of Conybeare, 
Buckland, Mantell, Lindley, and Hutton, and eminently of 



PHYSIOLOGICAL LAWS. 273 

Owen, in Great Britain, although sustained by the most rigid 
principles of science, are nevertheless but little short of mi- 
raculous ; and they demonstrate most clearly the identity of 
anatomical laws, in all ages, among animals and plants of 
every size and character, from the lofty lepidodendra and 
sigillaria to the humblest moss or sea-weed, and from the 
gigantic dinotherium, mastodon, megatherium, and iguano- 
don, to the infinitesimal infusoria. 

In the sixth place, physiological laws have always been the 
same upon the globe. 

That death has reigned in all past ages over all animated 
tribes, as it now reigns, so that in that war there has never 
been a discharge, I need not attempt formally to prove. For 
the preserved and petrified relics of all the former races, that 
now lie entombed in the rocks, furnish a silent but impressive 
demonstration of the former triumph of that great physiologi- 
cal law, which is stamped by the signet of Jehovah upon all 
existing organic natures — Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt 
thou return. 

Scarcely more necessary is it to attempt to show that the 
same system of reproduction for filling the chasms which 
death occasions, and which is now universal in the animal 
and vegetable kingdoms, has always existed. Indeed, such a 
system is a necessary counterpart Ao a system of dissolution. 
And we find the same phases to this reproductive system in 
ancient and in modern periods. Organic remains clearly 
teach us that there have always been viviparous as well as 
oviparous creatures, and gemmiparous as well as fissiparous 
animals and plants. The second great physiological law of 
existing nature has, then, always been the same. 

The character of the nourishment by which animals and 
plants have been sustained has never varied. The latter 



274 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

have ever been nourished by inorganic, and the former by 
organic, matter. Some animals have ever fed upon the flesh 
of other animals, as their petrified remains, enclosing the 
masticated and half-digested fragments of other animals, tes- 
tify. Other tribes have fed only upon herbs or fruits ; and 
some were omnivorous ; just, in fact, as we find the habits of 
existing animals. 

No less certain are we that the processes of digestion and 
assimilation have ever been unchanged. We find the same 
organs for these purposes as in existing animals, viz., the 
mouth, the stomach, the intestines, and the blood-vessels, as 
the coprolites and the cololites abundantly testify. We infer, 
therefore, with great confidence, the existence of gastric 
juice and bile for completing the transformation of the food 
into blood. Indeed, the discovery by a lady (Miss Mary 
Anning, of England) of that singular secretion from which 
the color called India ink is prepared, with the ink-bag of the 
sepia, or loligo, in a petrified state, shows that the process 
of secretion existed in these ancient animals ; and when we 
find that in all respects their structure was like that of exist- 
ing animals, although some of the softer vessels have not 
been preserved, we cannot doubt but the entire process of 
digestion, and the conversion of blood into bone, nerve, and 
muscle, was precisely the same as it now is. 

In the fact, also, that we find in fossil specimens organs of 
respiration, such as lungs, gills, and trachea, we learn that 
the process of a circulation of blood, and its purification 
by means of the oxygen of the atmosphere, have never 
varied. Animal heat, too, dependent as it is essentially upon 
this oxygenating process, was always derived from the same 
source as at present. 

The perfectly preserved minute vessels of vegetables 



FUNCTIONAL IDENTITY. 275 

enable us, by means of the microscope, to identify them with 
the plants now alive ; and they prove, too, incontestably, that 
the nourishment of vegetables has always been of the same 
kind, and has been converted into the various proximate prin- 
ciples of plants by the same processes. 

Again. We have evidence that these ancient animals pos- 
sessed the same senses as their congeneric races now on the 
globe. We have one good example in which that most deli- 
cate organ, the eye, is most perfectly preserved. It is well 
known that the visual organ of insects and of crustaceans is 
composed of a multitude — often several hundreds or thou- 
sands — of eyes, united into one, so as to serve the purpose 
of a multiplying glass ; each eye producing a separate image 
of the object observed. Such an eye had the trilobite. Each 
contained at least four hundred nearly spherical lenses on the 
surface of the cornea, united into one organ ; revealing to us 
the interesting fact, that the relations of light to animal organ- 
ization were the same in that remote era as they now are. 

But I need not multiply proof of the functional identity of 
organic nature in all ages. It may, however, be inquired, 
how this identity, as well as that of anatomical structure, is 
reconciled with the great anomalies, both in size and form, 
which have confessedly prevailed among ancient animals. 
Compare the plants and animals which now occupy the north- 
ern parts of the globe with those which flourished there in 
the remote periods of geological history, and can we believe 
them to be portions of one great system of organic nature ? 

Compare, for instance, the thirty or forty species of ferns 
now growing to the height of a few inches, or one or two feet, 
in Europe and this country, with the more than two hundred 
species already dug out of the coal mines, many of which 
were forty to forty-five feet in height ; or the diminutive 



276 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

ground pines, and equiseta, now scarcely noticed in our for- 
ests, with the gigantic lepidodendron, sigillaria, calamites, and 
equiseta, of the carboniferous period ; and who will not be 
struck with the great difference between them ? 

Or go to Germany, and imagine the bones of the dinothe- 
rium to start out of the soil, and become clothed with flesh 
and instinct with life. You have before you a quadruped 
eighteen feet in length, and of proportional height, much 
larger than the elephant, and with curved tusks reaching two 
or three feet below its lower jaw, while no other living animal 
would be found there larger than the ox, or the horse — mere 
pygmies by the side of such a monster, and evidently unfit to 
be his contemporaries. 

Again. Let the megatherium be brought back to life on the 
pampas of South America, and you have an animal twelve feet 
long and eight feet high, with proportions perfectly colossal. 
Its fore feet were a yard long, its thigh bone three times thicker 
than that of the elephant, its width across the haunches five 
feet, its spinal marrow a foot in diameter, and its tail, where 
it was inserted into the body, two feet in diameter. What a 
giant in comparison with the sloth, the anteater, and the 
armadillo, to which it was allied by anatomical structure ! 

Still more unequal in size, as compared with living batra- 
chians, was the labyrinthidon, once common in England and 
Germany, if, indeed, the tracks on sandstone were made by 
that animal. It was, in fact, a frog as large as an ox, and 
perhaps as large as an elephant. Think of such animals 
swarming in our morasses at the present day ! 

But coming back from Europe, and turning our thoughts to 
the animals that trod along the shores of the estuary that once 
washed the base of Mount Holyoke, in New England, we shall 
encounter an animal, probably of the batrachian family, of more 



GIGANTIC ANIMALS. 277 

gigantic proportions. It was the Otozoum Moodii, a biped, 
with feet twenty inches long, more than twice the size of those 
of the labyrinthidon ; yet its tracks on the imperishable sand- 
stone show that such a giant once trod upon the muddy shore 
of that ancient estuary. 

Along that same shore, also, enormous struthious birds 
moved in flocks, making strides from three to five feet long, 
with feet eighteen inches long, lifting their heads, it may be, 
from twelve to eighteen feet above the ground, surpassing, as 
it appears, even the gigantic dinornis of New Zealand, now 
that the feet of the latter have been discovered. I refer to 
the Brontozoum giganteum, whose tracks are so common on 
the new red sandstone of the Connecticut valley. What 
dwarfs are we in comparison, who now consider ourselves 
lords of that valley ! 

Still more remarkable for peculiarities of structure was the 
tribe of saurians, which were once so numerous in the north- 
ern parts of Europe and America. The ichthyosaurus, a 
carnivorous marine reptile, sometimes thirty feet long, had 
the snout of a porpoise, the teeth of a crocodile, the head of a 
lizard, the vertebras of a fish, the sternum of an ornitho- 
rhynchus, and the paddles of a whale. Those paddles, cor- 
responding to the fins of a fish, or the web feet of water birds, 
were composed, each of them, of" more than one hundred 
bones. In short, we find in this animal a combination of 
mechanical contrivances, which are now found among three 
distinct classes of the animal kingdom. Its eye, also, having 
an orbital cavity, in one species, of fourteen inches in its 
longest diameter, was proportionally larger than that of any 
living animal. 

The plesiosaurus had the general structure of the ichthyo- 
24 



278 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

saurus ; but its neck was nearly as long as its whole body — 
longer, in proportion to its size, than- even that of the swan. 

The iguanodon was an herbivorous terrestrial reptile that 
formerly inhabited England. It approaches nearest in struc- 
ture to the iguana, a reptile four or five feet long, inhabiting 
the marine parts of this continent. Yet the iguanodon was 
thirty feet long, with a thigh six feet, and a body fourteen feet 
in circumference. What an alarm would it now produce, to 
have such a monster start into life in the forests of England, 
where no analogous animal could be found more than half a 
foot in length ! Surely this must have been one of the fabu- 
lous monsters of antiquity. 

Still more heteroclitic and unlike existing nature was the 
pterodactyle, a small lizard, contemporary with the ichthyo- 
saurus and plesiosaurus. At one time anatomists regarded it 
as a bird, at another as a bat, and finally as a reptile, hav- 
ing the head and neck of a bird, the body and tail of a quad- 
ruped, the wings of a bat, and the teeth of a saurian reptile. 
With its wings it could fly or swim ; it could walk on two 
feet or four ; with its claws it could climb or creep. " Thus," 
says Dr. Buckland, " like Milton's fiend, all qualified for all 
services, and all elements, the pterodactyle was a fit compan- 
ion for the kindred reptiles that swarmed in the seas, or 
crawled on the shores of a turbulent planet." 

" The fiend, 
O'er bog, or steep, through straight, rough, dense, or rare, 
"With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way, 
And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or fiies." 

Now, when the details of such facts are brought before us, 
it is very natural to feel that it is the history of monsters, and 



NOT MONSTERS. 279 

that the Centaurs, the Gorgons, and Chimeras of the ancients, 
arc no more unlike existing animals than these resurrections 
from the rocks. But further examination rectifies our mis- 
take, and we recognize them as parts of one great system. 
All the peculiarities of size, and structure, and form, which 
we meet, we find to be only wise and benevolent adaptations 
to the different circumstances in which animals have been 
placed. The gigantic size of many of them, compared with 
existing races, may be explained by the tropical, or even ultra 
tropical character of the climate ; and not a single anomaly 
of structure and form can be pointed out, which did not con- 
tribute to the convenience and happiness of the species, in the 
circumstances in which they were placed. It is our ignorance 
and narrow views alone that give any of them the aspect of 
monsters. Listen to the opinion of Sir Charles Bell, one of 
the ablest of modern anatomists. " The animals of the ante- 
diluvian world," says he, "were not monsters; there is no 
lusus, or extravagance. Hideous as they appear to us, and 
like the phantoms of a dream, they were adapted to the con- 
dition of the earth when they existed." IC Judging by these 
indications of the habits of the animals, we acquire a knowl- 
edge of the condition of the earth during their period of ex- 
istence ; that it was suited at one time to the scaly tribe of 
the lacerta3, with languid motion ; at another, to animals of 
higher organization, with more varied and lively habits; and, 
finally, we learn that, at any period previous to man's crea- 
tion, the surface of the earth would have been unsuitable to 
him." — Bridgewater Treatise, pp. 35 and 31. 

A similar view is given of this subject by England's geo- 
logical poet, '(Rev. Mr. Wilks,) in whose playful verses we 
find more of true science and just inference than in many 



280 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

a ponderous tome of grave prose. In one of his poems he 

says, — 

" Seamy coal, 

Limestone, or oolite, and other sections, 

Give us strange tidings of our old connections ; 

Our arborescent ferns, of climate torrid, 

With unknown shapes of names and natures horrid ; 

Strange ichthyosaurus, or iguanodon, 

With many more I cannot verse upon, — 

Lost species and lost genera ; some whose bias 

Is chalk, marl, sandstone, gravel, or blue lias ; 

Birds, beasts, fish, insects, reptiles ; fresh, marine, 

Perfect as yesterday among us seen 

In rock or cave ; 'tis passing strange to me 

How such incongruous mixture e'er could be. 

And yet no medley was it : each its station 

Once occupied in wise and meet location. 

God is a God of order, though to scan 

His works may pose the feeble powers of man." 

The facts and reasonings which have now been presented 
will sustain the following important inferences : — 

In the first place, we learn that the notions which have so 
widely prevailed, in ancient and modern times, respecting a 
chaos, are without foundation. 

Among all heathen nations of antiquity, the belief in a 
primeval chaos was almost universal ; and from the heathen 
philosophers it was transmitted to the Christian world, and 
incorporated with the Mosaic cosmogony. It is not, indeed, 
easy to ascertain what is the precise idea which has been at- 
tached to a chaos. It is generally described, however, as " a 
confused assemblage of elements," " an unformed and undi- 
gested mass of heterogeneous matter ; " not, of course, subject 
to those laws which now govern it, and which have arranged 



THE CHAOS OF GEOLOGY. 281 

it all in beautiful order, even if we leave out of the account 
vegetable and animal organization. Now, I have attempted 
to show that there never was a period on the globe when these 
laws, with the exception of the organic, did not operate as 
they now do. Nay, the geologist, when he examines the old- 
est rocks, finds the results of these laws at the supposed period 
when chaos reigned ; that is, in the earliest times of our planet. 
And what are these results? The most splendid crystalliza- 
tions which nature furnishes. The emerald, the topaz, the 
sapphire, and other kindred gems, were elaborated during the 
supposed chaotic state of the globe ; for no earlier products 
have yet been discovered than these most perfect illustrations 
of crystallographical, chemical, and electrical laws. If, in- 
deed, any should say, that by a chaos they mean only that 
state of the world when no animals or plants existed, — in other 
words, when no organic laws had been established, — to such 
a chaos I have no objection. And this is the chaos described 
in the Bible, where it is said that, before the creation of ani- 
mals and plants, the earth was without form and void. The 
tohu vau hohu of Moses, which is thus translated in our Eng- 
lish Bible, means, simply and literally, invisible and unfur- 
nished — invisible, both because the ocean covered the present 
land, and darkness was upon the face of the deep ; and un- 
furnished, because as yet no organic natures had been called 
into existence. This is the meaning which the old Jewish 
writers, as Philo and Josephus, attached to these words ; and 
they have been followed by some of the ablest modern com- 
mentators. iC It is wonderful," says Rosenmuller the elder, 
" that so many interpreters could have persuaded themselves 
that it was possible to detect a chaos in the words *il"f21 ^liin. 
That notion unquestionably derived its origin from the fictions 
of the Greek and Latin poets, which were transferred by 
24* 



282 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

those interpreters to Moses. If we follow the practice of 
the language, the Hebrew phrase has this signification : The 
earth was waste and desert, or, as others prefer, empty and 
vacuous ; that is, uncultured and unfurnished with those things 
with which the Creator afterwards adorned it." — Antiquiss. 
Tell. Hist. p. 19-23. 

Upon the whole, there is no evidence whatever, either in 
nature or revelation, that the earth has ever been in a state 
corresponding to the common notions of a chaos ; while, on 
the other hand, there is strong proof that the present laws of 
nature have been in operation from the beginning. These 
laws have varied in the intensity of their action, and we 
have strong reason to believe that organic laws did not always 
exist ; but none of these laws have ever been suspended, to 
leave the elements to mix in wild disorder in a formless mass. 
It is high time that religion was freed from the indescribable 
incubus of a chaos. 

Finally, the most important conclusion to which the mind is 
conducted by this subject is, that the present and past condi- 
tions of this world are only parts of one and the same great 
system of infinite wisdom and benevolence. 

We have seen that the same wise and benevolent laws, 
organic and inorganic, have always controlled, as they now 
control, this lower world. It is true we find modified condi- 
tions of the globe in its past history ; but they were always 
the foreseen result of the same laws, and in harmony with 
the same great plan. And the modifications of organic struc- 
ture, which were great in the successive economies, were 
always in perfect correspondence with the earth's physical 
changes. Nowhere do we meet with conflicting plans ; but 
throughout all nature, from the earliest zoophyte and sea- 
weed of the silurian rocks to the young animals and plants that 



ONE GREAT SYSTEM ONLY. 283 

came into existence to-day, and from the choice gems that 
were produced when the earth was without form and void, to 
the crystals which are now forming in the chemist's labora- 
tory, one golden chain of harmony links all together, and 
identifies all as the work of the same infinite mind. 

" In all the numerous examples of design which we have 
selected from the various animal and vegetable remains that 
occur in a fossil state," says Dr. Buckland, " there is such a 
never-failing identity in the fundamental principles of their 
construction, and such uniform adoption of analogous means 
to produce various ends, with so much only of departure from 
one common type of mechanism as was requisite to adapt 
each instrument to its own especial function, and to fit each 
species to its peculiar place and office in the scale of created 
beings, that we can scarcely fail to acknowledge in all these 
facts a demonstration of the unity of the intelligence in 
which such transcendent harmony originated ; and we may 
almost dare to assert that neither atheism nor polytheism 
would ever have found acceptance in the world, had the evi- 
dences of high intelligence and unity of design which have 
been disclosed by modern discoveries in physical science 
been fully known to the authors or the abetters of systems 
to which they are so diametrically opposed. It is the same 
handwriting that we read, the same system and contrivance 
that we trace, the same unity of object and relation to 
final causes which we see maintained throughout, and con- 
stantly proclaiming the unity of the great divine original." 
— Bridgewater Treatise, p. 584. 

" The earth, from her deep foundations, unites with the 
celestial orbs, that roll throughout boundless space, to declare 
the glory and show forth the praise of their common Author 
and Preserver ; and the voice of natural religion accords har- 



284 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 

moniously with the testimonies of revelation, in ascribing the 
origin of the universe to the will of one eternal and dominant 
intelligence, the almighty Lord and supreme First Cause of 
all things that subsist ; the same yesterday, to-day, and for- 
ever, before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the 
earth and the world were made, God from everlasting and 
without end.'''' — Bridgewater Treatise, p. 596. 



(285 



LECTURE IX. 

THE HYPOTHESIS OF CREATION BY LAW. 

In all ages of the world, where men have been enlightened 
enough to reason upon the causes of phenomena, a mysteri- 
ous and a mighty power has been imputed to the laws of 
nature. A large portion of the most enlightened men have 
felt as if those laws not only explain, but possess an inherent 
potency to continue, the ordinary operations of nature. Most 
men of this description, however, have thought that to origi- 
nate nature must have demanded the special exercise of an 
infinite and all-wise Being. But a few, in every age, have 
endeavored to exalt law into a Creator, as well as Controller, 
of the world. The hypothesis has assumed a great variety 
of forms, and until recently few have attempted to draw it 
out in all its details, and apply it to all nature. Among the 
ancient philosophers it was based on the eternity of matter, 
and made the foundation of a system of rank atheism. 
Starting with the position, as an axiom, that nothing produces 
nothing, — in other words, that creation out of nothing is 
impossible, — Democritus maintained that all existence was 
the result of two necessary and self-existent principles, viz., 
space, infinite in extent, and atoms, infinite in number. The 
latter have been eternally in motion, in directions varying 
from right lines ; and their necessary collisions have produced 
the various forms of organic and inorganic nature. To pro- 
duce animals and plants, it was only necessary that the atoms 



286 CREATION BY LAW. 

should be suitably arranged. The only animating principle 
was the rapid agitation of atoms. 

In modern times, very few philosophers have ventured to 
solve the whole problem of the universe by any self-acting, 
self-producing power in nature. La Place limited himself to 
the mode in which the great bodies of the universe were 
produced by the vortical movements of nebulous matter ; 
although his object, equally with that of Democritus and 
Epicurus, was to dispense with an intelligent, personal Deity. 
Lamarck, Geoffrey St. Hilaire, and Bory St. Vincent, as- 
suming the existence of matter and its laws, have endeavored 
to show, by the inherent vitality of some parts of matter, 
how the first or lowest classes of animals and plants may 
have been produced ; and how, from these, by the theory of 
development and the force of circumstances, all the higher 
families, with their instincts and intellects, may have been 
evolved. A still more recent, but anonymous, writer has had 
the boldness to unite these nebular hypotheses, with those of 
spontaneous generation and transmutation, into a single sys- 
tem, and to attempt to clothe it with the garb of philosophy ; 
nay, to do this in consistency, not only with Theism, but 
with a belief in revelation. This theory is what I denominate 
the hypothesis of creation by law. And judging from its 
wide reception, we should be led to infer that it had strong 
probabilities in its favor. It should, therefore, at least receive 
a careful and candid examination. For though many of its 
statements and conclusions are absurd, and some of them are 
highly ridiculous, the hypothesis, at least in some of its parts, 
falls in with certain loose notions that have got possession of 
the public mind, and which nothing but cogent reasoning can 
eradicate. 

Before entering upon such an examination, however, it 



THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 287 

seems necessary to go somewhat more into detail in illustra- 
tion of the nature of this hypothesis. It may conveniently 
be described under the heads of cosmogony, which attempts 
to account for the origin of the world ; zoogony, which ex- 
plains the origin of animals ; and zoonomy, which describes 
the laws of animal life.* 

The cosmogony of this theory is embraced in what is de- 
nominated the nebular hypothesis, propounded by the eminent 
mathematician La Place. He supposes that, originally, the 
whole solar system constituted only one vast mass of nebu- 
lous matter, being expanded into the thinnest vapor and gas 
by heat, and more than filling the space at present occupied 
by the planets. This vapor, he still further supposes, had a 
revolution from west to east on an axis. As the heat dimin- 
ished by radiation, the nebulous matter must condense, and 
consequently the velocity of rotation must increase, and an 
exterior zone of vapor might be detached ; since the central 
attraction might not .be able to overcome the increased cen- 
trifugal force. This ring of vapor might sometimes retain 
its original form, as in the case of Saturn's ring; but the 
tendency would be, in general, to divide into several masses, 
which, by coalescing again, would form a single mass, hav- 
ing a revolution about the sun, and on its axis. This would 
constitute a planet in a state of vapor ; and by the detach- 
ment of successive rings might all the planets be produced. 
As they went on contracting, by the same law, satellites 
might be formed to each; and the ultimate result would be 
solid planets and satellites, revolving around the sun in 
nearly the same plane, and in the same direction, and also 
on their axes. 

* I adopt this division from an able American review of the 
"Vestiges." 



288 CREATION BY LAW. 

Although this hypothesis has been regarded with favor by 
many philosophers, who were Theists, and even Christians, 
yet the object of La Place in proposing it was to sustain 
atheism. Sir Isaac Newton had expressed the conviction that 
" the admirable arrangement of the solar system cannot but 
be the work of an intelligent and most powerful Being." 
La Place declared that, in this statement, Newton " had devi- 
ated from the method of true philosophy," and brought for- 
ward these views to sustain his declaration. Whether they 
do sustain it, will be considered in another place. But since 
it is one of those modes in which men have attempted to 
account for the universe without a Deity, it is a proper sub- 
ject of examination in this lecture, in which we are inquiring 
whether law alone will account for the creation and sustenta- 
tion of the universe. 

The zoogony of this hypothesis undertakes to show how 
animals and plants may be produced without any special ex- 
ercise of creating power on the part of the Deity. It sup- 
poses matter to be endowed with certain laws, whose operation 
alone will determine life in brute matter, or, rather, whose 
operation constitutes life. Some would have it that a part of 
matter is essentially vital ; that is, endowed with inherent 
life ; and that this matter, like leaven, communicates life to 
dead matter arranged in a certain order. But the more mod- 
ern view is, that life is produced by electrical agency. It is 
found that the fundamental form of organic beings is a glob- 
ule, having another globule forming within it. It is also 
found that globules may be produced in albumen by elec- 
tricity; and if we could discover how nature produces albu- 
men, it is thought that the whole process by which living organ- 
isms are produced would be distinctly before us. It seems 
to be simply the operation of electricity, and requires no 



HYPOTHESIS OF LAMARCK. 289 

intervention of special creating energy. If the question 
arises, Whence came such marvellous laws to exist in nature ? 
the atheist replies that matter and its laws are eternal, having 
neither beginning nor end ; while the Theist, who maintains 
this hypothesis, asserts that, when God created matter, he 
endowed it with such laws, having an inherent, self-executing 
power. 

Having thus ascertained, as it supposes, how life and or- 
ganization in the simplest forms may be produced, the next 
inquiry is, how the more perfect and complicated forms of 
organic beings may be developed by laws, without divine 
power. This constitutes the zoonomy of the subject. The 
French zoologist, Lamarck, first drew out and formally de- 
fended this hypothesis, aided by others, as Geoffroy St. Hilaire 
and Bory St. Vincent. Their supposition was, that there is a 
power in nature, which they sometimes denominated the 
Deity, yet did not allow it to be intelligent and independ- 
ent, but a mere blind, instrumental force. This power, they 
supposed, was able to produce what they called monads, or 
rough draughts of animals and plants. These monads were 
the simplest of all organic beings, mere aggregations of 
matter, some of them supposed to be inherently vital. And 
such monads are the only things ever produced directly by 
this blind deity. But in these monads there was supposed to 
reside an inherent tendency to progressive improvement. 
The wants of this living mass of jelly were supposed to pro- 
duce such effects as would gradually form new organs, as 
the hands, the feet, and the mouth. These changes would 
be aided by another principle, which they called the force of 
external circumstances, by which they meant the influence 
upon its development of its peculiar condition ; as, for in- 
stance, a conatus for flying, produced by the internal principle, 
25 



290 CREATION BY LAW. 

would form wings in birds ; a conatus for swimming in water 
would form the fins and tails of fishes ; and a conatus for 
walking would form the feet and legs of quadrupeds. Thus 
the organs were not formed to meet the wants, but by the 
wants, of the animal and plant. Of course, new wants 
would produce new organs ; and thus have animals been grow- 
ing more and more complicated and perfect from the earliest 
periods of geological history. Man began his course as a mo- 
nad, but, by the force of Lamarck's two principles, has reached 
the most elevated rank on the scale of animals. His last condi- 
tion before his present was that of the monkey tribe, especial- 
ly that of the orang-outang. The advocates of this hypothesis 
generally, however, suppose that there are from three to fif- 
teen species of men, and that the different races are not mere 
varieties of one species. The most perfect species, the Cau- 
casian, after leaving the monkey state, has gradually risen 
through the inferior species, and is still making progress ; so 
that we cannot tell where they will stop. In general, the 
advocates of this hypothesis are materialists ; that is, they do 
not suppose that there is a soul in man, distinct from the 
body, but that thought is one of the functions of the brain. 
They usually also regard moral qualities as mainly dependent 
upon organization, agreeably to the opinions of ultra phrenol- 
ogists ; and hence that they are more to be pitied than 
blamed for their deviations from rectitude. 

Such is the hypothesis. Let us now, in the first place, 
assume it to be proved, and see what inferences follow. 

I remark, first, that the occurrence of events according to 
law does not remove the necessity of a divine contriving, 
superintending, and sustaining Power. 

That every event in the universe takes place according to 
fixed laws I am ready to admit. For what is a natural law ? 



ALL THINGS CONTROLLED BY LAW. 291 

Nothing more nor less than the uniform mode in which divine 
power acts. In the case of miracles, it may be that the ordi- 
nary laws of nature are suspended or counteracted ; at least, 
they are increased or diminished in their power. Yet from 
what we know of the divine perfections, we must conclude 
that God has certain fixed rules by which he is regulated in 
the performance of miracles ; and, of course, in the same 
circumstances we should expect the same miracles. So that 
we may reasonably admit that even miracles are regulated 
and controlled by law, like common events ; though, from the 
infrequency of the former, men cannot understand the laws 
that regulate them. 

Now, if the advocates of this hypothesis mean simply that 
every event is regulated by law. — in other words, that with 
like antecedents like consequents will be connected, — I have 
no controversy with them ; and such is the precise statement 
of a modern anonymous popular writer on the subject. 

He declares that his " purpose is, to show that the whole 
revelation of the works of God presented to our senses and 
reason is a system based on what we are compelled, for want 
of a better term, to call law ; by which, however, is not 
meant a system independent or exclusive of the Deity, but 
one which only proposes a certain mode of his working.'''' — 
Sequel to the Vestiges of Nat. Hist, of Creation, p. 2. — But 
this is by no means all that is meant by this hypothesis. Nay, 
the grand object of the writer above quoted is, to show that 
there is no such thing as miraculous interference in the crea- 
tion or preservation of the universe. He admits only the 
ordinary laws of nature, but denies all special and extraordi- 
nary laws ; and says that it does not " appear necessary that 
God should exercise an immediately superintending power 



292 CREATION BY LAW. 

over the mundane economy." — Vestiges, p. 273. — Nay, he 
denies that the original creation of the universe and of animals 
and plants required any thing but the operation of natural 
laws ; of such laws as we see and understand. The thought 
does not seem to have occurred to him, that special and mi- 
raculous acts of the Deity may be as truly governed by law 
as the motions of planets. Every thing of that sort he seems 
to regard as a violation of law, — a stepping aside from fixed 
principles, — a sort of afterthought with Jehovah, — a remedy 
for some defect in his original plans. True, the law of mira- 
cles and of special providence is very different from the com- 
mon course of nature ; and, therefore, the one may for a time 
supersede the others. But this does not prove that the former 
is not regulated by laws ; nor that it did not enter into the 
original plan of the universe in the divine mind. It must have 
been a part of that plan ; every thing was a part of it, and 
there can be with him no afterthought, no improvement, no 
alteration of his eternal designs. 

Admitting that every event, miraculous as well as common, 
is under law, it by no means renders a present directing and 
energizing Deity unnecessary ,, This hypothesis admits that 
organic life had a beginning, for its grand object is to show 
how it began by law alone. Now, who gave to matter, in a 
gaseous state, such wonderful laws that this fair world should 
be the result of their operation ? If it would require infinite 
wisdom as well as power to create the present universe at 
once out of nothing, would it demand less of contrivance and 
skill to impart such powers to brute matter? It was not 
merely a power to produce organic natures, to form their 
complicated organs, to give life, and instinct, and intellect ; 
but to adapt each particle, each organ, each animal, and each 



WHAT IS A NATURAL LAW? 293 

plant, most exactly and most wonderfully to its place in the 
vast system, so that every single thing should most beautifully 
harmonize with every other thing. 

Again. What is a natural law without the presence and 
energizing power of the lawgiver ? How easily are men 
bewildered by words ! and none has led more astray than this 
word law. We talk about its power to produce certain ef- 
fects ; but who can point out any inherent power of this sort 
which it possesses ? Who can show how a law operates but 
through the energizing influence of the lawgiver ? How un- 
philosophical then to separate a law of nature from the Deity, 
and to imagine him to have withdrawn from his works! For 
to do this would be to annihilate the law. He must be present 
every moment, and direct every movement of the universe, just 
as really as the mind of man must be in the body to produce 
its movements. Take away God from the universe, or let 
him cease to act mentally upon it, and every movement would 
as instantly and certainly cease, as would every movement of 
the human frame, were the mind to be withdrawn, or cease to 
will. We realize the necessity of the divine presence and 
energy to produce a miracle. But if miracles are performed 
according to law, as much as common events, — and we 
surely cannot prove they are not, — why is a present Deity 
any more necessary in the one case than in the other ? The 
Bible considers common and miraculous events exactly alike 
in this respect. And true philosophy teaches the same. 

I see not, then, why this law hypothesis does not require an 
infinite Deity, just as much as the ordinary belief, which sup- 
poses that God originally created the universe by his fiat, and 
sustains it constantly by his power, and from time to time 
interferes with the regular sequence of cause and effect by 
miracles. The only difference seems to be this : While the 
25* 



294 CREATION BY LAW. 

common view represents God as always watching over his 
works, and ready, whenever necessary, to make special inter- 
positions, the law hypothesis introduces him only at the very 
dawn of the universe, exerting his infinite wisdom and power 
to devise and endow matter with exquisite laws, capable, by 
their inherent self-executing power, of originating all organic 
natures, and producing the infinite variety of nature, and keep- 
ing in play her countless and unceasing agencies. It was 
only necessary that he should impress attenuated matter with 
these laws, and then put the machine in motion, and it would 
go on forever, without any need of God's presence or agency ; 
so that he might henceforward give himself up to undisturbed 
repose. 

I know, indeed, that La Place, and some other advocates 
of this latter hypothesis, do not admit any necessity for a 
Deity even to originate matter or its laws ; and to prove this 
was the object of the nebular hypothesis. But how evident 
that in this he signally failed ! For even though he could 
show how nebulous matter, placed in a certain position, and 
having a revolution, might be separated into sun and planets, 
by merely mechanical laws, yet where, save in an infinite 
Deity, lie the power and the wisdom to originate that matter, 
and to bring it into such a condition, that, by blind laws alone, 
it would produce such a universe — so harmonious, so varied, 
so nicely adjusted in its parts and relations as the one we in- 
habit r Especially, how does this hypothesis show in what 
manner these worlds could be peopled by countless myriads 
of organic natures, most exquisitely contrived, and fitted to 
their condition ? The atheist may say that matter is eternal. 
But if so, what but an infinite mind could in time begin the 
work of organic creation ? If the matter existed for eternal 
ages without being brought into order, and into organic 



LAW EXALTED INTO THE DEITY. 295 

structures, why did it not continue in the same state forever ? 
Does the atheist say, All is the result of laws inherent in mat- 
ter ? • But how could those laws remain dormant through all 
past eternity, — that is, through a period literally infinite, — 
and then at length be aroused into intense action ? Besides, 
to impute the present wise arrangements and organic crea- 
tions of the world to law, is to endow that law with all the 
attributes with which the Theist invests the Deity. Nothing 
short of intelligence, and wisdom, and benevolence, and power, 
infinitely above what man possesses, will account for the pres- 
ent world. If there is, then, a power inherent in matter ade- 
quate to the production of such effects, that power must be 
the same as the Deity ; and, therefore, it is truly the Deity, 
by whatever name we call it. In short, the fact that La Place 
did not see that his hypothesis utterly failed to account for 
the universe without a Deity, strikingly shows us, that a man 
may be a giant in mathematics, while he is only a pygmy in 
moral reasoning ; or, to make the statement more general, 
how a man, by an exclusive cultivation of one faculty of the 
soul, may shrivel all the rest into a nutshell. 

From these views and reasonings, it is clear, I think, that 
the hypothesis of creation by law does not necessarily destroy 
the theory of religion. For if we admit that every thing in 
the world of matter and of mind, not excepting miracles and 
special providences, is regulated, if not produced, by law, it 
does not take away the necessity of a contriving, sustaining, 
and energizing Deity. Even though we admit that God has 
communicated to nature's laws, at the beginning, a power to 
execute themselves, (though the supposition is quite unphilo- 
sophical,) no event is any the less God's work, than if all were 
miraculous. 

In consistency with this conclusion, we find that while some 



296 CREATION BY LAW. 

advocates of this hypothesis evidently intended it to sustain 
atheism, its most plausible advocate, as we have seen, fully 
admits, not only the divine existence, but the reality of reve- 
lation. It may, indeed, be doubted whether this anonymous 
writer has not virtually taken away the Deity, and even moral 
accountability, by his materialism and his ultra-phrenology ; 
yet we do not see but he may assert his law system without 
denying God's existence or attributes. 

It must be admitted, however, that the influence of this 
hypothesis upon practical religion is disastrous. It does, ap- 
parently, so remove the Deity from all concern in the affairs 
of the world, and so foists law into his place, that practically 
there is no God. If his agency is acknowledged, as having 
put the vast machine in motion, in some indefinitely remote 
period of past duration, yet the feeling is, that since then he 
has given up the reins into the hands of law, so that man has 
nothing to do with him, but only with nature's laws ; that he 
has only to submit to these, and not expect any interposition 
for his relief, however earnestly he cry for it. Now, it is 
obviously the intention and desire of the advocates of this 
hypothesis thus to remove God away from his works, and 
from their thoughts ; else why should they so strenuously re- 
sist the notion of miracles ? For these may just as properly 
be referred to law as common events. Yet it is one of the 
most striking features of the hypothesis, that it opposes strongly 
the idea of any special oversight and interposition on the part 
of the Deity. True, when we look at the subject philosophi- 
cally, we must acknowledge that an event is just as really the 
work of God, when brought about by laws which he ordains 
and energizes, as by miraculous interposition. Still the 
practical influence of these two views of Providence is quite 
different. 






oken's views. 297 

Whoever the author of the Vestiges may be, he has evi- 
dently lived in a religious community, and felt the influence 
of a religious atmosphere ; for he tries to conform his system 
as much as possible to the principles of Protestant Christianity. 
In other words, he feels so much the power of practical 
piety around him, that he does not suffer the influence of 
the system which he advocates to exhibit itself fully, nor 
to drive him into those extravagances of belief which natu- 
rally result from it. In order to see what is its natural ten- 
dency, we need to go to such a country as Germany, or Swit- 
zerland, where there is little to restrain the wildest vagaries of 
belief. In the works of Professor Lorenz Oken, of Zurich, 
we.see fully developed the tendencies and results of this hy- 
pothesis of development by law, combined with the unintelli- 
gible idealism of Kant, Fichte, Schelling, &c. In his Physio- 
philosophy, translated by the Ray Society for the edification 
of sober, matter-of-fact Anglo-Saxons, we find a man, of strong 
mind and extensive knowledge, taking the most ridiculous 
positions with the stoutest dogmatism, and the most imper- 
turbable gravity, yet whose blasphemy is equalled only by 
their absurdity. Let a few quotations illustrate and confirm 
this statement. 

" The highest mathematical idea, or the fundamental prin- 
ciple of all mathematics, is the zero = 0. 

" Zero is in itself nothing. Mathematics is based upon 
nothing, and consequently arises out of nothing. 

u Real and ideal are no more different from each other 
than ice and water : both of these, as is well known, are es- 
sentially one and the same, and yet are different, the diversity 
consisting in the form. Every real is absolutely nothing else 
than a number. 

' The Eternal is the nothing of nature. 



298 CREATION BY LAW. 

" There is no other science than that which treats of nothing. 

"There exists nothing but nothing — nothing but the 
Eternal. 

" Every thing in the world is endowed with life ; the world 
itself is alive, and continues only, maintains itself by virtue of 
its life. 

" Man is God wholly manifested. God has become man, 
zero has become -j . Man is the whole of arithmetic, com- 
pacted, however, out of all numbers ; he can, therefore, pro- 
duce numbers out of himself. 

" Animals are men who never imagine. They are beings 
who never attain to consciousness concerning themselves. 
They are single accounts ; man is the whole of mathematics. 

" Arithmetic is the truly absolute or divine science. The- 
ology is arithmetic personified. 

"For God to become real, he must appear under the form 
of the sphere. There is no other form for God. God mani- 
festing is an infinite sphere. 

" God is a rotating globe ; the world is God rotating. 

u The whole universe is material, is nothing but matter ; 
for it is the primary act repeating itself eternally in the cen- 
tre. The universe is a rotating globe of matter. 

" There is no dead matter ; it is alive through its being, 
through the Eternal that is in it. Matter has no existence in 
itself, but it is the Eternal only that exists in it. Every thing 
is God that is there, and without God there is absolutely 
nothing. 

" Every thing that is is material. Now, however, there is 
nothing that is not ; consequently there is every where nothing 
immaterial. 

" Fire is the totality of ether, is God manifested in his 
totality. 



PHYSIO-PHILOSOPHY. 299 

" Every thing that is has originated out of fire ; every thing 
is only cooled, rigidified fire. 

" God being in himself is gravity ; acting, self-emergent 
light ; both together, or returning into himself, heat. 

" God only is monocentral. The world is the bicentral God, 
God the monocentral world, which is the same with the monas 
and dyas. Self-consciousness is a living ellipse. 

" God is a threefold trinity ; at first the eternal, then the 
ethereal, and finally the terrestrial, where it is completely 
divided. 

" The symbolical doctrine of the colors is correct according 
to the philosophy of nature. Red is fire, love — Father. 
Blue is air, truth, and belief — Son. Green is water, forma- 
tion, hope — Ghost. These are the three cardinal virtues. 
Yellow is earth, the immovable, inexorable falsity, the only 
vice — Satan. There are three virtues, but only one vice. 
A result obtained by physio-philosophy, whereof pneumato- 
philosophy as yet augurs nothing. 

c< The primary mucus, out of which every thing organic 
has been created, is the sea mucus. 

11 The whole sea is alive. It is a fluctuating, ever self-ele- 
vating, and ever self-depressing organism. 

M If the organic fundamental substance consist of infusoria, 
so must the whole organic world originate from infusoria. 
Plants and animals can be only metamorphoses of infusoria. 
No organism has consequently been created of larger size than 
an infusorial point : whatever is larger has not been created, 
but developed. 

" The mind, just as the body, must be developed out of 
these animals, (infusoria.) The human body has been formed 
by an extreme separation of the neuro-protoplasmic or mucous 
mass ; so must the human mind be a separation, a memberment 



300 CREATION BY LAW. 

of infusorial sensation. The highest mind is an anatomized 
or dismembered mesmerism, each member whereof has been 
constituted independent in itself. 

" The liver is the soul in a state of sleep, the brain is the 
soul active and awakening. 

" Circumspection and forethought appear to be the thoughts 
of the bivalve mollusca, and snails. 

" Gazing upon a snail, one believes that he finds the proph- 
esying goddess sitting upon the tripod. What majesty is in 
a creeping snail, what reflection, what earnestness, what 
timidity, and yet at the same time what firm confidence ! 
Surely a snail is an exalted symbol of mind slumbering deep- 
ly within itself." 

It is difficult for an Anglo-Saxon mind to believe that a 
man who could write thus was not out of his senses. Yet 
Oken is an eminent physiologist, and has made, it is said, im- 
portant discoveries in respect to the cranial homologies, which 
have been developed in Professor Owen's work on the Homol- 
ogies of the Vertebrate Skeleton. Nay, Oken declares him- 
self to have written his Physio-philosophy " in a kind of in- 
spiration " — from what world the religious man might be in 
doubt. 

These extravagant notions show what is the natural ten- 
dency of the law hypothesis. Yet it does not necessarily 
convert a man into an atheist. And if any of its advocates 
declare themselves Theists, and even Christians, we need not 
regard them as hypocrites, though we may consider them as 
in an eminently dangerous position ; and that, when they shall 
act consistently, they will swing off into utter irreligion. But 
my arguments against the hypothesis will be based on the posi- 
tion that it is not sustained hy facts ; and this is the second 
position of my lecture. 



THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 301 

The nebular hypothesis is a part of the foundation on 
which the doctrine of creation by law rests. And the high 
scientific reputation of its author, as well as its apparent coin- 
cidence with some of the deductions of geology respecting 
the earliest condition of the earth, have made philosophers 
look upon it with considerable favor. Yet very few have 
been ready to give it implicit credence. And of late the 
most plausible evidence in its favor seems to be fast vanishing 
away. The ablest mechanicians are unable to see how a 
rotary motion should be produced in nebulous matter by re- 
frigeration ; or, if this be assumed, how the successive por- 
tions, detached by superior centrifugal force, should form 
spherical masses. But a still more formidable objection lies 
in the fact that, as improvements are made in telescopes, one 
and another of the nebulae, on which the hypothesis rests, 
have been resolved into stars ; and the presumption hence, 
arising is very strong that all are resolvable. In the present 
aspect of the subject, no sagacious philosopher would dare to 
rest even an hypothesis upon the unresolved nebulse. If, how- 
ever, the nebular hypothesis were shown to be true, it would 
prove nothing in regard to the production of animals and 
plants by mere law, without the special agency of the Deity. 

The essential and inherent vitality of some kinds of matter 
is another doctrine on which this hypothesis rests. " In 
vain," says Bory St. Vincent, " has matter been considered 
as eminently brute. Many observations prove that, if it is 
not all active, by its very nature, a part of it is essentially so ; 
and the presence of this, operating according to certain laws, 
is able to produce life in an agglomeration of the molecules ; 
and since these laws will always be imperfectly known, it 
will at least be rash to maintain that an infinite intelligence 
did not impose them ; since they are manifested by their 
26 



CREATION BY LAW. 

results." — Dictionnaire Classique (PHistoire Naturelle, art 
Materie. 

The " observations " to which this writer refers to sustain 
his hypothesis are those which had been made upon certain 
vegetable infusions, which, in certain circumstances, exhibited 
minute particles in motion, apparently by vital forces. These 
were called monads, and were not supposed to be distinct ani- 
mals, but only atoms, ready to be organized. The more 
modern and accurate researches of Ehrenberg and others, 
however, have shown, beyond all doubt, that these monads 
are true animals, the minutest of all living beings hitherto 
discovered. Not less than twenty-six species of them have 
been described and figured by microscopists, the smallest of 
which never exceeds the twelve thousandth of an inch in 
diameter. 

The vegetable physiologists have described certain peculiar 
motions in the minute vessels of plants, that might readily be 
regarded as matter essentially vital. I refer to what they 
call rotation and cyclosis. But these are never seen save in the 
living plant ; and, therefore, seem dependent on the general 
life of the vegetable. 

There is, however, danger of mistaking certain motions of 
the particles of matter, by chemical agency, for the effect of 
vitality. A curious example is thus described by Ehrenberg, 
which was discovered by Professor Bornsdorff. " If a solu- 
tion of the chloride of aluminum be dropped into a solution of 
potassa, by the alternate precipitation and solution of the alu- 
minum, in the excess of the alkali, an appearance will be 
given to the drop of aluminate matter, by the chemical 
changes and reactions which take place, as if the Amoeba dif- 
Jluens were actually present, both as to its form and evolutions, 
and will seem to be alive. Such appearance is considered by 



INSECTS PRODUCED BY GALVANISM. 303 

its able discoverer as bearing the same relationship to the real 
animalcule as a doll, or a figure moved by mechanism, does 
to a living child." 

We see, then, that the supports on which rests the doctrine 
of the essential vitality of matter, give way before better in- 
struments and more careful research. Another statement, 
however, of much higher pretensions, has lately been made, 
and on no mean authority. Able electricians declare that, 
by passing currents of galvanism through solutions of silicate 
or ferrocyanate of potassa, or some analogous substance, 
after a time, sometimes several years, numerous small in- 
sects have been developed, belonging to the acari family. 

These experiments appear to have been conducted with 
fairness and skill ; and that the insects showed themselves at 
the pole of the battery, around which the gelatinous silex col- 
lected, cannot be doubted. It is true, however, that, when 
the solution was exposed to the atmosphere, the insects ap- 
peared much sooner and more numerous than when care was 
taken to exclude every thing but oxygen enough to sustain 
life. This fact leads to the suspicion that the ova of the in- 
sect might have been communicated through the air, and that, 
even when an attempt was made to exclude the atmosphere, 
some ova were still present. This conclusion is rendered 
still more probable by some experiments made by Professor 
Schulz, of Berlin, on the production of infusoria. Having 
first boiled the vegetable and animal infusions, so as to destroy 
all germs of organic life, and expelled all the atmosphere, he 
attached an apparatus in such a manner that, whatever air 
entered afterwards, must pass through sulphuric acid, or a 
solution of potash. The result was, that no infusoria or vege- 
table forms appeared during two months ; but in the same 
infusion, placed in the open air, and exposed to the same light 



304 CREATION BY LAW. 

and heat as that enclosed in the glass vessel, numerous ani- 
malcula and fungi appeared in a day or two. It will need, 
therefore, very long and patient experiments to establish the 
assertion that galvanism alone can produce living animals 
without the presence of germs. 

Not many years since, the equivocal or casual production 
of animalcula, without any other parentage than law, was 
thought to be made out by a multitude of facts. For these minute 
creatures appeared almost every where, and in places where 
it seemed impossible that their ova should be found. But the 
researches of Ehrenberg have cleared up the difficulties of 
their origination in the ordinary modes of reproduction, in 
nearly every instance, and the advocates of the law hypothe- 
sis have been fairly driven from this stronghold of their argu- 
ment. In describing the various modes of reproduction with 
which nature has provided the infusoria, Professor Owen 
says, " Thus each leaves, by the last act of its life, the means 
of perpetuating and diffusing its species by thousands of fer- 
tile germs. When once the thickly-tenanted pool is dried 
up, and its bottom converted into a layer of dust, these incon- 
ceivably minute and light ova will be raised with the dust by 
the first puff of wind, diffused through the atmosphere, and 
may there remain long suspended ; forming, perhaps, their 
share of the particles which we see flickering in the sunbeam, 
ready to fall into any collection of water, beaten down by 
every summer shower into the streams or pools which receive 
or may be formed by such showers, and, by virtue of their 
tenacity of life, ready to develop themselves whenever they 
may find the requisite conditions of their existence. The 
possibility, or, rather, the high probability, that such is the 
design of the oviparous generation of the infusoria, and such 
the common mode of the diffusion of their ova, renders the 



ORIGIN OF THE ENTOZOA. 305 

hypothesis of equivocal generation, which has been so fre- 
quently invoked to explain their origin in new-formed natural 
or artificial infusions, quite gratuitous." — Lectures on Comp. 
Anat. vol. ii. p. 31. 

No longer able to maintain a foothold among the animal- 
cula, the defenders of this hypothesis have of late attempted 
to take a stand among animals of a somewhat higher grade, 
viz., the entozoa, or animals inhabiting other animals. These 
being considerably larger than the infusoria, their ova could 
not float in the atmosphere ; but they possess a wonderful 
tenacity of life ; some of them exhibiting signs of life after 
having been in boiling water for an hour ; others have revived 
after having been packed for a long time in ice, and frozen ; 
others have revived after lying in a dried state for six or 
seven years. Their power of reproduction, in the ordinary 
modes, is also prodigious, exceeding even that of the infuso- 
ria. It will, then, demand very strong evidence to prove that 
such animals possess also the power of spontaneous produc- 
tion, without parentage, or that their existence within other 
animals cannot be explained without such a supposition. For, 
if capable of being produced without parentage, why should 
such extraordinary care have been taken for their multiplica- 
tion, in almost all the ordinary modes in which animals are 
reproduced ? 

The extraordinary facts that have been discovered by Pro- 
fessors Steenstrup, Owen, and others, within a few years, 
respecting what they call alternate generation, or partheno- 
genesis, have been thought favorable to the hypothesis of de- 
velopment. Among the mollusca, the polyparia, the entozoa, 
and infusoria, it is found that, in some species, the result of 
sexual union is the production of a larva without sex, and, 
therefore, incapable of propagating in the usual way. Yet 
20* 



306 CREATION BY LAW. 

that larva can of itself produce another larva quite different 
from itself, and this larva another, and so on, sometimes for 
eight or ten generations, when the spermatic force seems to 
be exhausted, and a progeny exactly like the original parents 
that started the series is produced, capable of giving rise to 
another and a similar series. Here, then, we find a succes- 
sion of progeny for several generations, and all quite un- 
like one another, yet without any immediate parental 
agency. Why is it not an example of spontaneous gen- 
eration ? and why may not new species be produced in this 
manner ? 

There are two facts prominent on this subject which afford 
a full answer to such questions. One is, that these genera- 
tions of larvse always begin with the spermatozoon and the 
ovum of parents ; the other is, that the series always closes, 
if allowed to run its natural course, in individuals with sex, 
exactly identical with those that started it ; so that the spe- 
cies always remains entire. The whole process is simply one 
of the infinitely varied modes which nature employs to pre- 
serve and perfect the species. The process never stops with 
any of the larvse intervening between the fertile parents at 
the beginning, and the fertile individuals at the end of the 
series. Professor Owen supposes — certainly with much 
plausibility — that some of the original germ-cells, not wanted 
for the production of the first larva, pass on to form the suc- 
cessive generations, till the series is complete ; so that, after 
all, the case is not an exception to the general law of repro- 
duction by parental agency ; and instead of sustaining, it 
certainly goes against, the notion of spontaneous generation 
and of transmutation of species ; because it shows how far 
parental influence may reach, and how tenacious nature Is of 
specific distinctions. For the same reasons, the case affords 



PLANTS WITHOUT SEEDS. 307 

a presumption against other alleged cases of equivocal gener- 
ation and metamorphoses of species.* 

Appeal has also been made to the vegetable kingdom for 
examples of the production of organic beings, viz., plants 
without seeds. Who has not observed, for instance, how the 
clearing up and burning over of a piece of land will often 
cause an entirely new tribe of plants to spring up and flour- 
ish ? Whence came the seeds ? We have seen, for in- 
stance, (in Richmond, Virginia,) a thick growth of pines 
upon a spot where from six to ten feet of soil had been 
removed a few years previously. 

It is* very possible, in some cases of this kind, that the soil, 
having been produced by aqueous agencies, may contain 
seeds to a considerable depth, and that their vitality may 
have been preserved for centuries ; for we know that seeds 
three thousand years old, taken from Egyptian catacombs, 
have germinated, in favorable circumstances. In most cases 
of this sort, however, the winds have probably supplied the 
seed, it may be, long before. We were one day wandering 
over Mount Holyoke, where a spot recently cleared was cov- 
ered with the fire-weed, a species of senecio ; and as we were 
musing upon its origin, a strong blast of wind swept over the 
plants, just ready to throw off their seeds. Sustained by 
their light egrets, they floated away on the air in numbers 
sufficient to cover half the mountain with the plant, when it 
should be cleared and burnt over. Yet their existence would 
never be suspected till those circumstances should be devel- 

* For the details of this remarkable subject, see the " Partheno- 
genesis" of Professor Owen, p. 76, (London, 1849;) Steenstrup's 
"Alternation of Generations," published by the Ray Society in 
1845, and Sedgwick's " Discourse on the Studies of the University," 
Supplement, p. 193, (London, 1850.) 



308 CREATION BY LAW. 

oped. At least, until we can prove that the soil contains no 
seeds by the most careful examination, it will be premature 
to infer the equivocal production of the plants growing 
upon it. 

Vegetable physiology furnishes another fact, which seems 
to me to look still more favorable to this law hypothesis than 
the preceding, although it has not been noticed, so far as I 
know, by the advocates of that hypothesis. Speaking of the 
matter of which certain flowerless plants are composed, Dr. 
Lindlay says, " It is even uncertain whether this matter will 
produce its like, and whether it is not a mere representation 
of the vital principle of vegetation, capable of being -called 
into action, either as a fungus, or algae, or lichen, according 
to the particular conditions of heat, light, and moisture, and 
the medium in which it is placed ; producing fungi upon dead 
or putrid organic beings, lichens upon living vegetables, 
earth, or stones, and algse where water is the medium in 
which it is developed." Again, in speaking of that green 
slime which often covers the soil, rocks, walls, and glass in 
damp places, he says, " The slime resembles a layer of albu- 
men, spread with a brush ; it exfoliates in drying, and finally 
becomes visible by the manner in which it colors green or 
deep brown. One might call it a provisional creation, waiting 
to be organized, and then assuming different forms according 
to the nature of the corpuscles w r hich penetrate it, or develop 
among it. It may further be said to be the origin of two 
very distinct existences, the one certainly animal, the other 
purely vegetable." — Natural System, pp. 326, 328, 334. 

Now, admitting all the facts that have been detailed respect- 
ing the production of infusoria, entozoa, acari, and cryptoga- 
mian plants to be true, although most of them are far from 
being proved, it seems to me that they do not show us how 



LIFE DISTINCT FROM ORGANIZATION. 309 

vitality is produced by mere law, without the special agency 
of the Deity. Writers on the subject seem to overlook the 
distinction between organization and life. The first may be 
present in its highest perfection without the latter, as it is in 
animals and plants recently killed. The organization is 
merely a preparation to receive the mysterious principles 
which we call life and intellect. Light, heat, and electricity 
may be the essential agents in producing the organization, 
but they do not explain the nature, or account for the presence, 
of life. That must, so far as we know, come from some 
other and a higher source. Galvanism may bring gelatinous 
matter into the form of an insect, or infusoria, or entozoa ; 
but there is no evidence that it can impart life, however ex- 
quisite the organization. It may be, and we have reason to 
suppose it is, the divine will to bestow life whenever a certain 
organization exists ; but this does not show that his special 
agency is not concerned in it. He may will that the peculiar 
life of a lichen shall be given to the same elementary matter 
which, in another situation, he constitutes an alga, or a fun- 
gus, or even an animal. But this would not prove that natu- 
ral law alone could produce life. There is nowhere any evi- 
dence that sensibility, contractility, and especially intellect 
and volition, are the result of any natural operations. In 
their properties they are so entirely diverse from all known 
physical effects, that we must impute them to some other 
than a natural cause. We must call in the power of a su- 
preme intelligent Being. The laws of affinity, light, heat, 
and electricity, of endosmose and exosmose, may prepare 
the organization, but their power ends there ; and hence true 
philosophy requires us to impute the phenomena of life and 
intellect to an extraneous and infinitely higher cause. 

The case, then, stands thus : In ninety-nine cases out of a 



310 CREATION BY LAW. 

hundred, we are certain that organization requires the previous 
existence and agency of a being similarly organized, which we 
call the parent. But suppose that, in a very few cases, the 
laws of nature can produce the organization. It still demands 
another and a higher power — not a blind impulse, but an 
intelligent cause — to bestow life and intellect. To prove the 
existence of a natural cause for the arrangement of the atoms 
into an organic structure, does by no means prove the same 
for those higher and mysterious principles that make that 
structure a living, thinking being. 

Such, however, are the strongest arguments by which the 
advocates of the law hypothesis sustain their views of the 
origin of organism, life, and intellect. The next step in their 
reasoning is to show how animals and plants may be trans- 
muted from one species, or genus, or family, to another ; so 
that the existing vast variety can be traced to a few original 
germs. They maintain that these developments of the more 
from the less perfect have proceeded along certain parallel 
lines ; one series of developments, for instance, taking the 
line of the fishes, another of the reptiles, another of the birds, 
another of quadrupeds, and so on. 

To prove these developments or transmutations, they ap- 
peal first to the physiological history of the mammalian em- 
bryo. In its earliest stages, it can hardly be distinguished, 
except in size, from the unborn polygastric infusoria. The 
brain of a human embryo appears at first like that of an in- 
vertebrate animal ; next like that of a fish ; then successively 
like that of a reptile, a bird, a rodent mammal, a ruminant, 
and a monkey. So the heart, at an early stage, looks like 
that of an insect ; then it has two chambers, like that of a 
fish ; then it becomes three chambered, like that of a rep- 
tile ; and finally, four chambered, as in the mammalia. The 



HYBRIDITY". 311 

inference which these theorists would draw from such facts 
is, that man actually begins his existence as an animalcule, 
and passes successively through the mould or condition of 
other animals, before he reaches the highest. And the rea- 
sons why he does become a man, rather than an echinoderm, 
or a fish, or a monkey, is only some slightly modifying cir- 
cumstance, as, for instance, a longer gestation. It appears to 
me, however, that the inferences sound philosophy should 
derive from such facts are, first, that, while there is a seem- 
ing resemblance between the human embryo and that of 
lower animals, there is, in fact, a real and a wide diversity ; 
so that the one infallibly becomes an inferior animal, and the 
other a man. Could a single example be produced in which 
a human embryo stopped at and became an insect, or a fish, 
or a monkey, there might be some plausibility in the supposi- 
tion. But it is as certain to become a man as the sun is to 
rise and set; and, therefore, the human condition results from 
laws as fixed as those that regulate the movements of the 
heavenly bodies. That is a very superficial philosophy 
which infers identity of nature from mere external resem- 
blance. 

The phenomena of hybridity furnish another ground of 
argument in favor of the transmutation of species, and of 
course in favor of the law hypothesis ; for that hybrids are 
sometimes the result of the union of different species will not 
be denied. There is, however, a natural repugnance to union 
between different species ; and in a state of nature this can 
very rarely be overcome. But domestication changes and 
almost obliterates many natural instincts, and hence hybridity 
is far more common among domesticated animals and plants. 
As a general fact, also, the hybrid offspring is incapable of 
propagating its own race, without union with one of the. 



312 CREATION BY LAW. 

original species by which it was produced ; and this inability to 
continue this mixed race has been generally regarded among 
naturalists as the best characteristic of species. Some, how- 
ever, attempt to show that some hybrid races do continue from 
generation to generation to propagate their kind. But in most 
cases the hybrid race ere long runs out, and there is always 
a strong tendency to revert to the original stock ; and were 
it not for the influence of man, probably such a thing as hy- 
bridity would scarcely ever have been heard of. Nature 
seems to have established strong barriers around species, so 
that an identity should be preserved ; and even if we admit 
the possibility of their coalescence in some cases, yet we have 
evidence that almost always they are preserved distinct from 
century to century ; and the same is true even of the more 
prominent varieties, for we find not only the same species, 
but the same varieties of animals and plants, preserved some 
three thousand years in the Egyptian catacombs, that are now 
alive in the same country. How idle, then, to suppose that 
the laws of hybrid ity will account for such radical and entire 
transmutations as this hypothesis supposes ! To accomplish 
this, it would need as strong a tendency in nature to a union 
of species, genera, and families, as now exists against it. 

But a special appeal has been made on this subject to geol- 
ogy. The history of organic remains, it is thought, corre- 
sponds to what we might expect, if the hypothesis of develop- 
ment is true. In the oldest rocks we find chiefly the more 
simple invertebrate animals, and the vertebrated tribes appear 
at first in the form of fish, then of reptiles, then of birds, then 
of mammals, and last of all of man. What better confirma- 
tion could we wish than this gradually expanding series ? 
True, all the great classes of organic beings, vegetable and 
animal* are found nearly at the earliest epoch, and continue 



EARLIEST VERTEBRATE ANIMALS. 313 

through the entire series of rocks. But we have only to sup- 
pose a distinct stirps for each of the classes, and that the de- 
velopments took place along parallel lines, in order to harmo- 
nize the facts with the hypothesis. 

Such a general view of the subject of organic remains 
seems to give plausibility to the hypothesis of organic devel- 
opment. But the tables are turned when we descend to par- 
ticulars. The idea of a distinct stirps or germ for each great 
class of animals and plants seems to me to destroy an essen- 
tial feature of the hypothesis. It supposes that law produces 
at once a vertebral animal and a flowering plant ; for the first, 
certainly, we find in the very lowest of the fossiliferous rocks. 
" The lower silurian," says Sir Roderick Murchison, in 1847, 
" is no longer to be viewed as an invertebrate period, for the 
onchus (a genus of fish) has been found in the Llandeilo 
Flags, and in the lower silurian rocks of Bala." 

It is also a most important fact, that this fish of the oldest 
rock was not, as the development scheme would require, of a 
low organization, but quite high on the scale of fishes. The 
same is true of all the earliest species of this class. " All our 
most ancient fossil fishes," says Professor Sedgwick, " belong 
to a high organic type ; and the very oldest species that are 
well determined fall naturally into an order of fishes which 
Owen and Muller place, not at the bottom, but at the top of 
the whole class." — Discourse on the Studies of the Univer- 
sity, &c. 5th edit. p. Ixiv. pref. 

This point has been fully and ably discussed by Hugh Mil- 
ler, Esq., in his late work, " The Footprints of the Creator, or 
the Asterolepis of Stromness." The asterolepis was one of 
these fishes found in the old red sandstone, sometimes over 
twenty feet long ; yet, says Mr. Miller, " instead of being, 
as the development hypothesis would require, a fish low in its 
27 



314 CREATION BY LAW. 

organization, it seems to have ranged on the level of the 
highest ichthyic-reptilian families ever called into existence." 
Another point which Mr. Miller has labored hard to estab- 
lish, and of which there seems to be no reasonable doubt, is, 
that in many families of animals, not only were the first spe- 
cies that appeared of high organization, but there was a grad- 
ual degradation among those that were created afterwards. 
Of the fishes generally, he says, that " the progress of the 
race, as a whole, though it still retains not a few of the higher 
forms, has been a progress, not of development from the low 
to the high, but of degradation from the high to the low." 
Again he says, " We know, as geologists, that the dynasty of 
the fish was succeeded by that of the reptile ; that the dy- 
nasty of the reptile was succeeded by that of the mammiferous 
quadruped ; and that the dynasty of the mammiferous quad- 
ruped was succeeded by that of man, as man now exists — a 
creature of a mixed character, and subject, in all conditions, to 
wide alternations of enjoyment and suffering. We know fur- 
ther, — so far, at least, as we have succeeded in deciphering 
the record, — that the several dynasties were introduced, not 
in their lower, but in their higher forms ; that, in short, in the 
imposing programme of creation, it was arranged as a general 
rule, that in each of the great divisions of the procession the 
magnates should walk first. We recognize yet further the 
fact of degradation specially exemplified in the fish and the 
reptile." " Among these degraded races, that of the footless 
serpent, which goeth upon its belly, has long been noted by 
the theologian as a race typical, in its condition and nature, 
of an order of hopelessly degraded beings, borne down to the 
dust by a clinging curse ; and curiously enough, when the 
first comparative anatomists in the world give their readiest 
and most prominent instance of degradation among the 



DETERIORATION OF RACES. 315 

divisions of the natural world, it is this very order of footless 
reptiles that they select." 

Among the invertebrate animals are numerous examples 
of the deterioration of a race. M. Alcide D'Orbigny, one 
of the most accomplished of living paleontologists, in his 
Cours Elementaire de Paleontologie et de Gcologie, speaks as 
follows of the cephalopods found in the oldest rocks : " See, 
then, the result ; the cephalopods, the most perfect of the 
mollusks, which lived in the early period of the world, show 
a progress of degradation in their generic forms. We insist 
on this fact relative to the cephalopods, which we shall here- 
after compare with the less perfect classes of mollusks, since 
it must lead to the conclusion that the mollusks, as to their 
classes, have certainly retrograded from the compound to the 
simple, or from the more to the less perfect. 1 ' 

Such facts as these are absolutely fatal to the hypothesis 
of development ; and geology abounds with them. Indeed, 
through all her archives, we search in vain for facts that show 
any thing like a passage of one species, genus, or family, into 
another. Certain distinct types characterize the different 
formations up to a certain period, when there is a sudden 
change ; and in the subsequent strata we find animals and 
plants entirely different from those that have disappeared. 
The new races are, indeed, often of a higher grade than those 
that preceded them, but could not have sprung from them. 

The true theory of animal and vegetable existence on our 
globe appears to be this : Such natures were placed upon the 
earth as were adapted to its varying condition. When the 
earliest group was created, such were the climate, the atmos- 
phere, the waters, and the means of subsistence, that the lower 
tribes were best adapted to the condition of things. That 
group occupied the earth till such changes had occurred as to 



316 CREATION BY LAW. 

make it unsuited to their natures, and consequently they died 
out, and new races were brought in ; not by mere law, but by 
divine benevolence, power, and wisdom. These tribes also 
passed away, when the condition of things was so changed as 
to be uncongenial to their natures, to give place to a third 
group, and these again to a fourth, and so on to the present 
races, which, in their turn, perhaps, are destined to become 
extinct. From the first, however, the changes which the earth 
has undergone, as to temperature, soil, and climate, have been 
an improvement of its condition ; so that each successive 
group of animals and plants could be more and more compli- 
cated and perfect ; and therefore we find an increase and 
development of flowering plants and vertebral animals. And 
yet, from the beginning, all the great classes seem to have 
existed, so that the changes have been only in the proportion 
of the more and less perfect at different periods. In short, we 
have only to suppose that the Creator exactly adapted organic 
natures to the several geological periods, and we perfectly 
explain the phenomena of organic remains. But the doctrine 
of development by law corresponds only in a loose and gen- 
eral way to the facts, and cannot be reconciled to the details. 
If that hypothesis cannot get a better foothold somewhere 
else, it will soon find its way into the limbo of things abortive 
and forgotten. 

I have now noticed, I believe, the principal sources of evi- 
dence in which the law hypothesis rests ; and at the best, we 
find only a possibility, but rarely, if ever, a probability, that 
such a power exists in nature. I turn now, for a few mo- 
ments, to the arguments on the other side ; that is, against the 
hypothesis. 

And first, it cannot explain the wonderful adaptation of ani- 
mals and plants to their condition and to one another. 



LAW ANOTHER NAME FOR THE DEITY. 317 

There is not a more striking thing in nature than that adap- 
tation ; and geology shows us that it has always heen so. 
Now, if any thing requires the exercise of infinite wisdom and 
power, it is this feature of creation. But according to this 
hypothesis, the laws of nature may be so arranged as to cre- 
ate every animal and plant just at the right time, and place 
them in the right spot, and adjust every thing around them to 
their nature and wants. In other words, it supposes law 
capable of doing what only infinite wisdom and power can do. 
What is this but ascribing infinite perfection to law, and im- 
puting to it effects which only an infinite intelligence could 
bring about ? In other words, it is making a Deity of the 
laws which he ordains. Theoretically it may be of little im- 
portance by what name men call the Deity ; but practically 
to impute natural effects to law, as an independent power, is 
to put a blind, unintelligent agency in the place of Jehovah. 

In the second place, where one fact in nature looks favorable 
to this hypothesis, a thousand facts teach the contrary. 

Take for example the reproduction of animals. Out of 
every thousand individuals we have certain evidence that nine 
hundred and ninety-nine are brought into existence by the 
ordinary modes of generation ; that is, they depend upon pro- 
genitors. Still, if in the thousandth case the animal's exist- 
ence was clearly casual, if we could see an elephant, or an 
ox, start into life without parental agency, that single case 
would prove the hypothesis. But never do its advocates pre- 
tend that any of the larger animals are produced in this way. 
Nor is it till they get among the smaller and obscure animals, 
whose habits are very difficult to trace out, that we find any 
examples where a suspicion even can exist of the communi- 
cation of vitality irrespective of parental agency. Is not a 
strong presumption hence produced that further and more 
27* 



318 CREATION BY LAW. 

scrutinizing observation will show the few excepted cases not 
to be real exceptions ? Does not Found philosophy demand 
that the proof of the casual production of the thousandth case 
shall be as decided as that of the normal generation of the 
nine hundred and ninety-nine ? But no one, it seems to me, 
will pretend that any thing like such certainty exists in a single 
example throughout all nature. The presumption, then, is 
really more than a thousand to one against the hypothesis. 

Take an example from hybridity. While a thousand spe- 
cies retain from age to age their individuality, not more than 
one coalesces with its neighbor, and loses its identity. And 
even here, all admit that there is a constant tendency in the 
hybrid race to revert to the original stock ; and there is strong 
reason to believe that this will sooner or later take place, and 
that it would speedily occur in every case, were it not for the 
influence of domestication. Such facts make the presump 
tion very strong, that species are permanent, and any exten 
sive metamorphosis impossible. Hybridity appears to be in & 
measure unnatural ; and the old proverb true in respect to 

it — 

" Si furca naturam expellas, 
Usque recurret." 

By the hypothesis under consideration, we ought to expec* 
at least a few examples of the formation of new organs in 
animals, in the efforts of nature to advance towards a more 
perfect state. It has usually been said that the time since 
animals were first described is too short for such develop- 
ment. But we have examples, from the catacombs of Egypt, 
of animals and plants that lived in that country three thousand 
years ago ; and yet, according to Cuvier, — and who is a better 
judge ? — they are precisely like the living species. Strange 
that this great length of time should not have produced even 



GEOLOGY OPPOSED. 319 

one new organ, or the marks of a conatus to produce one. 
We are, indeed, pointed to the different varieties of the hu- 
man species, as examples of this progress. But these diver- 
sities, also, can be shown to be the same now as at the 
earliest date of historical records ; and where, then, is the evi- 
dence that they ever have undergone, or ever will undergo, 
any change of importance ? There may indeed be examples 
of amalgamation, but under favorable circumstances the origi- 
nal varieties are again developed. 

In the third place, geology contradicts this hypothesis. 

We have seen that it offers no satisfactory explanation of 
the gradual increase of the more perfect animals and plants, 
as we rise higher in the rocks. That fact is most perfectly 
explained by supposing that divine wisdom and benevolence 
adapted the new species, which from time to time were cre- 
ated, to the changing and improving condition of the earth. 
A multitude of species have been dug from the rocks ; but 
not one exhibits evidence of the development of new organs 
in the manner described by this hypothesis. New spe- 
cies often appear, but they differ as decidedly from the pre- 
vious ones as species now do ; and at the beginning of each 
formation there is often a very decided advance in the organic 
beings from those found in the top of the subjacent formation. 
How can this hypothesis explain such sudden changes, when 
its essential principle is, that the progress of the development 
is uniform ? Nothing can explain them surely but special 
creating interposition. 

Geology also shows us that for a vast period the world 
existed without inhabitants. Now, what was it that gave the 
laws of nature power, after so long an operation unproductive 
of vitality, to produce organic natures? Who can conceive 
of any inherent force that should thus enable them, all at 



320 CREATION BY LAW. 

once, to do what true philosophy shows to have demanded 
infinite skill ? 

In short, of all the sciences, geology most clearly shows 
special divine interference to explain its phenomena. It pre- 
sents us with such stupendous changes, after long periods of 
repose, such sudden exhibitions of life, springing forth from 
the bosom of universal death, that nothing but divine, special, 
miraculous agency can explain the results. And of all the 
vast domains of nature, it seems to me no part is so barren 
of facts to sustain this hypothesis as the rocks ; nor so full 
of facts for its refutation. These, however, have been so 
fully detailed in a previous part of this lecture that they need 
not be here repeated. 

In the fourth place, the prodigious increase of the power 
and the means of reproduction, which we find among the lower 
tribes of animals, affords a strong presumption against this 
hypothesis. 

The animals highest on the scale, and most perfect in their 
organization, have only one mode of reproduction, viz., the 
viviparous. Descending a little lower, we come to the ovip- 
arous and ovoviviparous tribes. Passing to the invertebrate 
animals, we meet with two other modes of reproduction, the 
gemmiparous and fissiparous. In the first mode, the animal 
is propagated by buds, like some plants, as the tiger lily ; by 
the second mode, a spontaneous division of the animal takes 
place. 

Now, in some of the lowest of the invertebrate tribes, we 
find most of the modes of propagation that have been enumer- 
ated in operation ; so that the same individual in one set of 
circumstances is oviparous, in another gemmiparous or fissip- 
arous. The consequence is, a power of multiplication in- 
conceivably great. Mr. Owen calculates that the ascaris 



SUPPOSED PROOFS DIMINISHING. 321 

lumbricoidcs, the most common intestinal worm, is capable 
of producing sixty-four millions of young ; and Ehrenberg 
asserts that the hydatina senta, one of the infusoria, increased 
in twelve days to sixteen millions, and another species, in four 
days, to one hundred and seventy billions. 

Why, now, are these astonishing powers of reproduction 
given to these minute animals, if it be true that they can also 
be produced without parentage, and by mere law ? This lat- 
ter mode would supersede the necessity of the former; and, 
therefore, the care taken by Providence to provide the for- 
mer is a strong presumption that the latter does not exist. 

In the fifth place, it is an instructive fact on this subject 
that, as instruments have been improved, and observations 
have become more searching, the supposed cases of spontaneous 
generation have diminished, until it is not pretended now that 
it takes place except in a very few tribes, and those the most 
obscure and difficult to observe of all living things. A hun- 
dred years ago, naturalists, and especially other men, might 
easily have been made to believe that many of the smaller 
insects had a casual origin. But long since, save in the mat- 
ter of the acari, the entomological field has been abandoned 
by the advocates of the law hypothesis, and they have been 
driven from one tribe after another, till at length some of the 
obscure hiding-places of the entozoa and infusoria are now 
the only spots where the light is not too strong for the large- 
pupiled eyes of this hypothesis. Is not the presumption 
hence arising very strong that it will need only a little further 
improvement in instruments and care in observation to carry 
daylight into these recesses, and demonstrate the parentage 
and normal development of all organic beings ? 

Finally. The gross materialism inseparable from this hy- 
pothesis is a strong argument against it. 



322 CREATION BY LAW. 

I am not aware that any one, except Oken, perhaps, has 
ever attempted to show that mind, as a spiritual essence, dis- 
tinct from matter, has been created by natural laws ; in other 
words, that there is in nature a power to produce mind. All 
such maintain that intellect is material, or, rather, the result 
of organization, the mere function of the brain, as are also 
life and instinct. Generally, also, they contend — and, in- 
deed, consistency seems to require it — that the moral powers 
depend chiefly upon different developments of the brain ; so 
that a disposition to do wrong results more from organization 
than from punishable mental obliquity ; indeed, the worst of 
criminals are often, on this account, more to be pitied than 
blamed, and the physician is of more importance than the 
moralist and the divine for their reformation. 

Now, if this system of materialism is true, we ought to 
embrace it, without any fear of ultimate bad effects. But a 
philosopher will hesitate long before he adopts a system 
which thus seems to degrade man from his lofty standing as 
a spiritual, accountable, and immortal being, and makes his 
intellectual and moral powers dependent upon the structure 
of the brain, and, therefore, destined to perish with the mate- 
rial organization, with no hope of future existence, unless 
God chooses to recreate the man. Nay, if there be no dis- 
tinct spirit in man, what evidence have we that there is one 
in Jehovah ? A true philosopher, I say, will demand very 
strong evidence before he adopts any hypothesis that leads a 
logical mind to such conclusions ; and I see not how the one 
under consideration can terminate in any thing else. 

Such are the reasons that lead me to reject the hypothesis 
of creation by law. I have endeavored to treat the subject 
in a candid and philosophical manner, not charging atheism 
upon its advocates when they declare themselves Theists and 



FASHIONABLE HYPOTHESIS. 323 

Christians. Neither have I called in the aid of ridicule, as 
might easily be done, and as, in fact, has been done by almost 
every opponent of the system who has written upon it. I 
have endeavored to show that the hypothesis, tried in the bal- 
ances of sound philosophy, is found wanting ; because, in the 
first place, the facts adduced to sustain it are insufficient ; 
and secondly, because, where one fact seems to favor it, a 
thousand testify against it. Is not the conclusion a fair one, 
that the hypothesis has no solid foundation ? Is not the evi- 
dence against it overwhelming ? Yet it has many advocates, 
and I must think — I hope not uncharitably — that these are 
the reasons : First, because men do not like the idea of a 
personal, present, overruling Deity ; and secondly, because 
there is very little profound and thorough knowledge of natu- 
ral history in the community. It is just such an hypothesis 
as chimes in with the taste of that part of the world who 
have a smattering of science, and who do not wish to live 
without some form of religion, but who still desire to free 
themselves from the inspection of a holy God, and from the 
responsibility which his existence and presence would impose. 
Depend upon it, gentlemen, you will meet these delusions not 
unfrequently among the cultivated classes of society, where 
they have already done immense mischief. You will, indeed, 
find all the eminent comparative anatomists and physiologists, 
such as Cuvier and Owen ; such., chemists as Liebig ; such 
zoologists as Agassiz and Edward Forbes ; such botanists as 
Hooker, Henslow, Lindley, Torrey, and Gray ; and such 
geologists as De la Beche, Lyell, Murchison, Sedgwick, D'Or- 
bigny, Buckland, and Miller, decided in their rejection of 
these views. But when even educated men obtain only a 
smattering of natural science, they find something very fas- 
cinating in this hypothesis ; and this is just the religion, or, 



324 CREATION BY LAW. 

rather, the irreligion, that suits the superficial, selfish, and 
pleasure-seeking exquisites of fashionable drawing-rooms, 
theatres, and watering-places. You will find, therefore, the 
need of thoroughly studying this subject, or you will not be 
able, as you would wish, to vindicate the cause of true science 
and true religion. 

I cannot terminate this discussion without referring to an 
ingenious analogy, suggested by Hugh Miller, in his " Foot- 
prints of the Creator," and drawn from the facts he had stated 
respecting the degradation of species. No one who has 
thoroughly studied Bishop Butler's Analogy of Natural and 
Revealed Religion to the Course of Nature will venture to 
say that Mr. Miller's suggestions are mere e ^ncy. As the ideas 
are entirely original with him, I give them *n his own words. 

Having spoken of the several dynasties of animals that have 
succeeded one another on the globe, in a passage which we 
have already quoted, he says, " Passing on to the revealed 
record, we learn that the dynasty of man in the mixed state 
and character is not the final one ; but that there is to be yet 
another creation, or, more properly, re-creation, known theo- 
logically as the resurrection, which shall be connected in its 
physical components, by bonds of mysterious paternity, with 
the dynasty which now reigns, and be bound to it mentally 
by the chain of identity, conscious and actual ; but which, in 
all that constitutes superiority, shall be as vastly its superior 
as the dynasty of responsible man is superior to even the 
lowest of the preliminary dynasties. We are further taught 
that, at the commencement of this last of the dynasties, there 
will be a re-creation of not only elevated, but also of degraded 
beings — a re-creation of the lost. We are taught yet fur- 
ther that, though the present dynasty be that of a lapsed race, 
which at their first introduction were placed on higher ground 



A FUTURE ECONOMY. 

than that on which they now stand, and sank by their own 
act, it was yet part of the original design, from the beginning 
of all things, that they should occupy the existing platform ; 
and that redemption is thus no afterthought, rendered neces- 
sary by the fall, but, on the contrary, part of a general 
scheme, for which provision had been made from the begin- 
ning; so that the divine Man, through whom the work of res- 
toration has been effected, was in reality, in reference to the 
purposes of the Eternal, what he is designated in the remark- 
able text, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 
Slain from the foundation of the world ! Could the assertors 
of the stony science ask for language more express ? By 
piecing the two records together, — that revealed in Scripture 
and that revealed in the rocks, — records which, however wide- 
ly geologists may mistake the one, or commentators misunder- 
stand the other, have emanated from the same great Author, 
— we learn that in slow and solemn majesty has period suc- 
ceeded period, each in succession, ushering in a higher and 
yet higher scene of existence ; that fish, reptiles, mammif- 
erous quadrupeds, have reigned in turn ; that responsible man, 
4 made in the image of God,' and with dominion over all 
creatures, ultimately entered into a world ripened for his re- 
ception ; but, further, that this passing scene, in which he 
forms the prominent figure, is not the final one in the long 
series, but merely the last of the preli?ninary scenes ; and that 
that period to which the by-gone ages, incalculable in amount, 
with all their well-proportioned gradations of being, form 
the imposing vestibule, shall have perfection for its occupant 
and eternity for its duration. I know not how it may appear 
to others, but for my own part I cannot avoid thinking that 
there would be a lack of proportion in the series of being, 
were the period of perfect and glorified humanity abruptly con- 
28 



326 CREATION BY LAW. 

nected, without the introduction of an intermediate creation of 
responsible imperfection with that of the dying, irresponsible 
brute. That scene of things in which God became man, and 
suffered, seems, as it no doubt is, a necessary link in the chain." 
A single concluding thought forces itself upon my mind. 
It is this : How ingenious and persevering men are in deluding 
themselves on the subject of religion ! Since the time of 
Christ, what countless devices have they framed to escape 
from the lofty truths and spiritual piety of his gospel ! Nor 
are they satisfied with this ; for the gospel has shed so much 
light upon the religion of nature, that even this is more than 
men like ; and, therefore, every science is ransacked for 
facts to neutralize all religion. Men's consciences do not 
permit them to throw off all the forms of religion ; and, 
therefore, they are satisfied if they can only tear out its 
heart. They like to preserve and to embalm its external 
covering, as the naturalist does the skin of an animal for his 
cabinet. And as the latter fills his specimen with straw and 
arsenic, and fits glass eyes into it, so do men fill up their 
religious specimen with error and vain speculation, and fit 
into its head the eyes of false philosophy, and then claim for 
it intellectual worship. It is the business of educated men to 
show that such caricatures are neither science nor religion. 
May you, gentlemen, have your full share in this most useful 
and noble work.* 

* The subject of this lecture has been ably discussed, within a few 
years, in most of the leading periodicals in Europe and America, 
though I must say not always with the candor calculated to do the 
most good. The two most able volumes that have fallen into my 
hands, on the subject, are Professor Sedgwick's "Discourse on the 
Studies of the University," &c, (fifth ed., London, 1850,) and Hugh 
Miller's " Footprints of the Creator," now republished in this country. 



(327) 



LECTURE X. 
SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

Next in importance to the question whether the Deity- 
exists, is the inquiry whether he exerts any direct agency in 
upholding the universe and in controlling its events. This 
point has been discussed in all ages in which there have been 
philosophers or theologians, and the current of opinion has 
fatlen principally into three channels. 

In the first place, some have removed the Deity entirely 
from his works into a fancied extra-mundane sphere, where 
in solitude he might enjoy the blessedness of his own infinite 
nature, without the trouble of directing the events of the uni- 
verse, or watching over the works of his hand. Forgetful 
of the great principle, that the intellectual powers produce 
happiness only when called into exercise, they have fancied 
that the care of the universe must be a burden to its Creator, 
and that it would derogate from his dignity. It is supposed , 
therefore, that the world has been given up to the rule of fate 
or chance. 

In the second place, a more numerous class have main- 
tained that the Supreme Being, after creating the world, com- 
mitted its preservation and government either to a subordinate 
agent, or to the laws which he impressed upon matter and 
mind, which possess an inherent power to execute themselves ; 
so that, in fact, God exercises no direct and immediate agency 
in natural operations. The learned and usually profound 



328 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

Cudworth adopted the hypothesis of a plastic nature, as he 
terms it, by which he means a vital, spiritual, and unintelli- 
gent, yet subordinate agent, by whose agency the world is 
governed and its operations carried s>n. At first view, this 
hypothesis would seem to lead inevitably to atheism ; but such 
was not the intention of its author. Still, it is obviously so 
clumsy, that had it not been the product of a great mind, it 
never would have received so much notice, or called forth 
such mighty efforts for its refutation, as have been bestowed 
upon it. 

Two varieties of opinion exist among those who believe the 
world governed and sustained by natural laws, established by 
the Deity. Some maintain that these laws are general, not 
particular ; not extending to minor events, but only the more 
important ; not providing for species, but only for families. 
Hence they suppose that these general cases may interfere 
with one another, and produce results apparently repugnant 
to the intention of their Author. Others, shocked at the ab- 
surdity of such conclusions, believe the laws of nature to 
extend to every event, and never to interfere with one another, 
and always to act in accordance with the divine will and 
appointment, but without any direct agency exerted by the 
Deity. They suppose these laws — in other words, secondary 
agencies — to have the power of producing all natural phe- 
nomena. 

In the third place, there are others who believe that a law 
can have no efficiency without the presence and agency of 
the lawgiver. They, therefore, suppose every event in the 
natural world to be the result of the direct and immediate 
agency of God. What we call laws are only the uniform 
mode of his operation. They agree with the advocates of 
the last-named theory in supposing the laws of nature to 



MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 329 

extend to every event, and to be in accordance with the ordi- 
nation of the Deity ; but they differ in maintaining that the 
presence and direct efficiency of a lawgiver are essential to 
the operation of natural laws. 

I should then define a Special Providence to be an event 
brought about apparently by natural laws, yet, in fact, the 
result of a special agency, on the part of the Deity, to meet a 
particular exigency, either by an original arrangement of 
natural laws, or by a modification of second causes, out of 
sight at the time. 

The doctrine, which supposes the Deity to exercise a super- 
intendence and direction over all the affairs of the universe, 
in any of the modes that have been mentioned, whether by a 
subordinate agent, or by laws, general or particular, with 
inherent self-executing power, or by the direct efficiency of 
the divine will, is called the doctrine of divine providence. 
If the superintendence extend only to general laws, it is called 
a general providence. If those laws reach every possible case, 
it is called a particular or universal providence. 

By a Miraculous Providence is meant a superintendence 
over the world that interferes, when desirable, with the regu- 
lar operations of nature, and brings about events, either in 
opposition to natural laws, or by giving them a less or greater 
power than usual. In either of these cases, the events 
cannot be explained by natural laws ; they are above, or 
contrary to, nature, and, therefore, are called miracles, or 
prodigies. 

There may be, and, as I believe, there is, another class of 
occurrences, intermediate between miracles and events strictly 
natural. These take place in perfect accordance with the 
natural laws within human view, and appear to us to be 
perfectly accounted for by those laws ; and yet, in some way 
28* 



330 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

or other, we learn that they required some special exercise 
of divine power, out of human view, for their production. 
Thus, according to the views of most Christian denominations, 
conversion takes place in the human heart in perfect accord- 
ance with the laws of mind, and could be philosophically 
explained by them ; yet revelation assures that it is not of 
blood, [natural descent,] nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the 
will of man, but of God. Divine power, therefore, is essen- 
tial to the change, although we see only the operation of 
natural causes. So a storm may appear to us to be perfectly 
accounted for by natural laws ; and yet divine efficiency 
might have produced a change in some of those laws out of 
our sight, and thus meet a particular exigency. Such events 
I call special providence ; and I maintain that we cannot tell 
how frequently they may occur. 

It is chiefly the bearings of science, especially of geology, 
upon the doctrine of miraculous and special providence, which 
I wish to consider. But it may form a useful introduction, to 
state the evidence, which goes to show that the agency of 
the Deity, in the ordinary operations of nature, is a direct 
efficiency ; or, in other words, that the laws of nature are 
only the modes in which divine agency operates. 

In the first place, if we suppose ever so many secondary 
causes to be concerned in natural events, the efficiency must, 
after all, be referred to God. 

What is a secondary cause ? or, in other words, what is a 
law of nature considered as a cause ? It is simply a uniform 
mode of operation. We find that heavy bodies uniformly 
tend towards the earth's centre, and that we call the law of 
gravity; but if those bodies sometimes ascended, and some- 
times moved horizontally, under the same circumstances, we 
could not infer the existence of such a law. 



CAUSE FOR UNIFORMITY. 331 

Now, there must be some cause for uniformity of operation 
in nature. There must be some foreign power, which gives 
the uniformity, since it is certain that the law itself can pos- 
sess no efficiency. We may, indeed, find one law dependent 
upon a second law, and this upon a third, and so on. But the 
inquiry still arises, What gives the efficiency to this second 
and third law ? and still the answer must be, Something out 
of itself. So that if we run back on the chain of causes ever 
so far, we must still resort to the power of the Deity to find 
any efficiency that will produce the final result. In most 
cases, we can trace back only one or two links on the chain. 
For instance, we account for the falling of all bodies by the 
law of gravity. But philosophers have wearied themselves in 
vain to find any cause for gravity, except in the will of God. 
The failure of every other hypothesis, though invented by 
such men as Newton and Le Sage, has been signal. Sound 
philosophy, then, requires us to infer that gravity owes its 
efficiency to the direct exertion of divine power. And so in 
all cases, when we can no longer discover second causes for 
any phenomenon, why should we imagine their existence, 
rather than refer it to the agency of God ? For go back as 
far as we may, and discover a thousand intervening causes, 
the efficiency resides alone in God. We have no evidence 
that even infinite power can communicate that efficiency to 
the laws of nature, so that they can act without the presence 
and agency of God. The common idea, which endows those 
laws with independent power, will not bear examination. 

In the second place, if natural operations do not depend 
upon the exercise of divine power, no other efficient cause 
can be assigned for their production. 

We have seen that in the laws of nature, independently of 
the Deity, there is no efficiency ; and I know not where else 



332 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

we can resort for any agency to carry forward the operations 
of nature, except to the same infinite Being. The fate and 
chance of the ancients, the plastic nature of Cudworth, the 
delegated nature of Lamarck, are indeed names invented by 
men to designate a certain imaginary efficiency residing some- 
where, independent of the Deity, by which the phenomena 
of nature have been supposed to be produced. But the mo- 
ment they are described, they are found to be mere imaginary 
agencies, meaning nothing more than the course of nature, 
or the laws of nature, which we have seen possess no inde- 
pendent efficiency. To a divine agency, therefore, we must 
resort, or be left without any adequate cause for the compli- 
cated and wonderful processes of nature. 

In the third place, this view of the subject is strongly con- 
firmed by the Christian Scriptures. 

How universal is the divine agency represented in the well- 
known passage — for of him, and through him, and to him, are 
all things. Equally vivid is Paul's statement on Mars Hill — 
In him we live, and move, and have our being. How graphic 
a description is the 147th Psalm of God's agency in the nat- 
ural world ! Not only is all good ascribed to God, but evil 
also. By the mouth of Isaiah he says, I form light and create 
darkness ; I make peace and create evil ; I the Lord do all 
these things. In short, no event in the material or spiritual 
world is by the sacred writers ascribed to chance, or to nature, 
or the laws of nature, as it is among men ; but to the direct 
efficiency of God. Nor is there any difference in this respect 
between miracles and common events. The one class is rep- 
resented as originating in the agency of God, just as much as 
the other. 

Finally. It will hardly be thought strange, in view of the 
preceding considerations, that a large proportion of the most 



OPINIONS OF EMINENT MEN. 

acute and philosophical minds in modern times have preferred 
this view of divine providence to any other. 

Sir Isaac Newton declares that the various parts of the 
world, organic and inorganic, " can be the effect of nothing 
else than the wisdom and skill of a powerful, ever-living 
Agent, who, being in all places, is more able by his will to 
move the bodies within his boundless, uniform sensorium, 
thereby to form and reform the parts of the universe, than 
we are by our will to move the parts of our own bodies." 

Says Dr. Clarke, the friend and disciple of Newton, " All 
things which we commonly say are the effects of the natural 
powers of matter, and laws of motion, are, indeed, if we will 
speak strictly and properly, the effects of God's action upon 
matter continually, and at every moment, either immediately 
by himself, or mediately by some created, intelligent being. 
Consequently there is no such thing as the course of nature, 
or the power of nature, independent of the effects produced 
by the will of God." 

In speaking of the principle of vegetable life, Sir James 
Edward Smith, the eminent botanist, says, " I humbly con- 
ceive that, if the human understanding can in any case flatter 
itself with obtaining, in the natural world, a glimpse of the 
immediate agency of the Deity, it is in the contemplation of 
this vital principle, which seems independent of material or- 
ganization, and an impulse of his own divine energy." — In- 
troduction to Botany, p. 26, (Boston edition.) 

" We would no way be understood," says Sir John Her- 
.schel, " to deny the constant exercise of this [God's] direct 
power in maintaining the system of nature, or the ultimate 
emanation of every energy, which material agents exert, from 
his immediate will, acting in conformity with his own laws." 
— Discourse on Nat. Philosophy. 



334 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE, 

" A law," says Professor Whewell, " supposes an agent 
and a power ; for it is the mode according to which the agent 
proceeds, the order according to. which the power acts. 
Without the presence of such an agent, of such a power, 
conscious of the relations on which the law depends, pro- 
ducing the effects which the law prescribes, the law can have 
no efficiency, no existence. Hence we infer that the intelli- 
gence by which the law is ordained, the power by which it is 
put in action, must be present at all times and in all places 
where the effects of the law occur ; that thus the knowledge 
and the agency of the divine Being pervades every portion 
of the universe, producing all action and passion, all perma- 
nence and change. The laws of nature are the laws which 
He, in his wisdom, prescribes to his own acts ; his universal 
presence is the necessary condition of any course of events ; 
his universal agency the only origin of any efficient force." 
— Bridgewater Treatise, p. 270. 

" The student in natural philosophy," observes the Bishop 
of London, " will find rest from all those perplexities, which 
are occasioned by the obscurity of causation, in the proposi- 
tion which, although it was discredited by the patronage of 
Malebranche and the Cartesians, has been adopted by Clarke 
and Dugald Stewart, and which is by far the most simple and 
sublime account of the matter — that all events which are 
continually taking place in the different parts of the material 
universe are .the immediate effects of the divine agency." — 
WheweWs Bridgewater Treatise, p. 273. 

" Jonathan Edwards," says M'Cosh in his Method of the 
Divine Government, " somewhere illustrates the manner in 
which God upholds the universe, by the way in which an 
image is upheld in a mirror. That image is maintained by a 
continual flow of rays of light, each succeeding pencil of 



PRACTICAL TENDENCY. 335 

which does not differ from that by which the image was first 
produced. He conceives that the universe is, in every part 
of it, supported in a similar way by a continual succession 
of acts of the divine will, and these not differing from that 
which at first caused the world to spring into existence. Now, 
it may be safely said of this theory that it cannot be dis- 
proved. Several considerations may be urged in support 
of it." 

Which of the views respecting divine providence that have 
been stated has the best practical tendency, seems hardly to 
admit of doubt. If we believe that God has submitted the 
direction and government of this world to a subordinate 
agent, a plastic nature ; or if we suppose he has impressed 
matter and mind with certain general laws, which have the 
power of executing themselves without his agency, and 
especially if in their operation they do sometimes actually 
clash with one another, or even if those laws extend to every 
movement of matter and mind, — still, if they do not require 
divine efficiency, men cannot but feel that God is removed 
from his works, and that the laws of nature, and not his 
agency, are their security. But if they believe that every 
movement of matter or mind requires a direct exercise of di- 
vine power or efficiency, just as much as if every event was 
a miracle, it cannot but bring God near to us, and make us 
realize his presence. 

If we obtain a timepiece from London or Paris, which 
contains all the springs and wheels requisite to keep it in op- 
eration, by occasionally winding it up, how little do we think 
of the artist who constructed it, except, perhaps, occasionally 
to admire his ingenuity ! But if it had been necessary for 
that artist to accompany the chronometer, and actually to put 
forth the strength of his own arm every moment to keep it in 



336 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

motion, how much more should we think of him and realize 
his presence ! The same effect, in a greater or less degree, 
will attend the belief that God must be not only virtually, 
but substantially, present every where, and be constantly ex- 
ercising his power to keep in operation the vast machine of 
the universe. It cannot but deeply impress the heart, and 
exert a most salutary influence upon the affections, to realize 
that every event around us is brought about by the immediate 
agency of the supreme Being. 

But notwithstanding the salutary influence of this view of 
Providence upon our moral feelings, and though philosophy 
pronounces it decidedly the most reasonable, still it meets 
with strong opposition. I need not stop to notice the objec- 
tions, that it makes God the author of evil as well as good, 
and that it represents man as a mere machine in the hands 
of the Deity, and therefore takes away human responsibility. 
I say I need not stop to answer such objections, because they 
lie equally strong against any system which makes God the 
original author of the universe. But a more plausible objec- 
tion is, that it makes all events miraculous. This objection is 
based on the supposition that every event which takes place 
through the direct and immediate agency of God is a miracle. 
But is this the true meaning of a miracle ? Is the term evei 
applied to any but extraordinary events ? It may or it may 
not imply a contravention of the laws of nature. But it docs 
always imply something which the laws of nature cannot pro- 
duce, and which, of course, they cannot explain. It is 
always the result of some new force coming in to the aid of 
the laws of nature, or in the place of them, or even some- 
times, perhaps, in opposition to them ; as when the sun stood 
still upon Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon. 
Hence an event may take place through the direct and imme- 



EVIDENCE FROM GEOLOGY. 337 

diate agency of God, and yet not be a miracle. If it be 
neither above, nor independent of, nor in opposition to the 
laws of nature, then it forms a part of the ordinary provi- 
dence of God ; it is a part of the usual, the fixed and uniform 
course of nature, and can be explained by known and unal- 
terable laws. The nature of the event is not affected at all 
by the question whether it is produced by the direct efficiency 
of God, or by a power inherent in those laws. We, who be- 
lieve that the direct efficiency of God is necessary to the 
operation, and even to the existence, of the laws of nature, 
are just as firm believers in the constancy of those laws as he 
who supposes them possessed of inherent powers. When 
that constancy is interrupted in any way, we call it a mir- 
acle. Hence it appears that our views of the nature of a 
miracle are the same as his, viz., an event which takes place 
out of the ordinary course of nature ; and, therefore, our 
system is no more liable to the objection that all events are 
made miracles than his system. 

The way is now prepared for inquiring what geology 
teaches respecting the ordinary and extraordinary providence 
of God over this world. 

The evidences of ordinary providence, which are common 
to geology and other sources of proof, I shall pass by ; both 
because they are familiar to all, and because I have, in a for- 
mer lecture, shown the existence and operation of the present 
laws of nature in all past ages. But there is one feature of 
the past condition of the world taught by geology to which I 
would call your attention, as exhibiting a more impressive 
view of the wisdom and skill of ordinary providence than 
almost any other department of nature presents. When the 
heavenly bodies are once put under the control of the two 
great forces that guide them, viz., the centrifugal and cer* 
29 



338 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

tripetal, we see no reason why they may not move on forever 
in their accustomed paths. But the two great agents of geo- 
logical change, fire and water, have an aspect of great irreg- 
ularity and violence, and are apparently less under the control 
of mathematical laws. In the mighty intensity of their 
action in early times, we can hardly see how there could 
have been much of security or permanence in the state of the 
globe, without the constant restraining energy of Jehovah. 
We feel as if the earth's crust must have been constantly 
liable to be torn in pieces by volcanic fires, or drenched by 
sweeping deluges. And yet the various economies of life on 
the globe, that have preceded the present, have all been sea- 
sons of profound repose and uniformity. The truth is, these 
mighty agencies have been just as much under the divine 
control as those which regulate the heavenly bodies ; and I 
doubt not but the laws that regulate their action are as fixed 
and mathematical as those which guide the sun, moon, 
and planets. Still, it must have required infinite wisdom and 
power so to arrange the agencies of nature that the desolating 
action of fire and water should take place only at those 
epochs when every thing was in readiness for the ruin of an 
old economy and the introduction of a new one. Geological 
agencies differ from astronomical in this — that the former 
must be allowed an irregular action within certain limits ; 
* t>ereas the latter act with unvarying uniformity in all cir- 
-jmmstances. If the former had not some room for irregular 
action, they would not act at all ; but if allowed too much 
liberty, they will destroy what they were intended to pre- 
serve. And God does restrain, and always has restrained 
them, just at the point where desolation would be the result 
of their more powerful operation. I do not, indeed, contend 
that it requires more power or wisdom to bind those mighty 



MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 339 

agencies within proper limits than to control the heavenly- 
bodies. But to our limited faculties it certainly seems a more 
difficult work; and, therefore, the geological history of the 
globe gives us a more impressive idea of the ordinary provi- 
dence of God than we see in the calm and uniform movements 
of nature around us. 

In the second place, geology furnishes us with some very 
striking examples of miraculous providence. 

In disproving the eternity of the organic world, in a former 
lecture, I adduced and illustrated these examples so fully, that 
I shall do little more in this place than give a recapitulation 
of that argument. 

If we suppose the earth originally to have been merely a 
diffused mass of vapor, like comets, or nebulse, I can conceive 
how, by the operation of such natural laws as now exist, it 
might have been condensed into a solid globe ; into a melted 
state, indeed, from the amount of heat extricated in the con- 
densation. Those same laws might subsequently form over 
the molten mass a solid crust, which, at length, might be 
ridged and furrowed by the action of internal heat, so as to 
form the basis of continents and the beds of oceans. In due 
time, the vapors might condense, so as to fill those basins 
with water; and, by the mutual and alternate action of the 
waters above and the heat beneath, the rocks might be com- 
minuted, so as to form the basis of- soils. So far might the 
arrangements of the world have proceeded by natural laws ; 
in other words, by the ordinary providence of God. But at 
this point we must bring in an extraordinary agency of the 
Deity, or the world would have remained, in the expressive 
language of revelation, without form and void ; that is, invis- 
ible and unfurnished. You have, indeed, the framework of a 
world, but the most difficult and complicated part of the work, 



340 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

the creation of plants and animals, remains yet to be per- 
formed. Here, then, is the precise point where you must 
call in the miraculous agency of the Deity, or the earth would 
forever remain an uninhabited waste. For if it does not 
require miraculous agency to bring into existence animals 
and plants, I know not what can require it, or prove its oper- 
ation. I can almost as easily conceive how matter might 
spring from nothing fortuitously, certainly I can as easily 
conceive of its eternity, as that organism and life can result 
from the ordinary laws of nature. 

It may be, however, that I shall here be met by the state- 
ment, that some distinguished geologists maintain the probable 
existence of organized beings on the globe at an indefinitely 
earlier period than that in which their remains first appear in 
the rocks. They contend that the extreme heat which has 
melted the older rocks has obliterated all traces of organic 
existence below a certain line. Now, in order to meet this 
difficulty, it is not necessary to show this opinion to be errone- 
ous. We have only to advance another step in our general 
argument, which brings us upon ground admitted to be good 
by the geologists above alluded to. They all of them believe 
that many new animals and plants have from time to time 
appeared on the globe ; that, in fact, there have been several 
almost entire changes in its inhabitants. Most of them sup- 
pose these new races to have been introduced in large num- 
bers at particular epochs, though some prefer the theory 
which supposes the new species to have been introduced one 
by one, as the old ones became extinct. But even this sup- 
position does not essentially affect my argument ; because 
they all allow that these successive species were really new, 
and could not have been the result of any metamorphosis of 
the old species. And it is the fact that new organic beings 



MAN RECENTLY CREATED. 341 

nave, from time to time, been created, that is alone essential 
to my argument. Whether they were created by groups or 
singly, is an interesting geological question ; but, in either 
case, miraculous power must have been put forth as really 
and as efficiently to call into existence a single new species 
of animalcula, or sea-weed, as to introduce an entirely new 
race. The successive economies of organic life that have 
existed on the earth, and passed from it, do most unequivo- 
cally demonstrate the extraordinary or miraculous providence 
of God. 

But we might abandon even this strong ground of our 
argument, and still geology would afford us a most unequivo- 
cal example of the creative agency of the Deity. That 
science shows, beyond all question, that man, and most of his 
contemporary races of animals and plants, have not always 
occupied this globe ; and, indeed, that they were not placed 
upon it till nearly every form buried in the rocks had passed 
away. And since those races which now inhabit the globe 
have among them a larger proportion of highly organized and 
more complicated species than have ever before been con- 
temporaries, — especially since man is among them, confess- 
edly the most perfect in organization and in intellect of all 
the beings that ever occupied this planet, — we can here point 
to the highest exercise of creative power ever exhibited in 
this lower world, as a certain memento of God's extraordi- 
nary or miraculous providence. Indeed, who, that has any 
adequate idea of the wonders of man's intellectual, moral, 
and immortal nature, and of the strange extremes that meet 
and harmonize in his physical and intellectual constitution, 
will believe that any loftier miracle has ever been exhibited 
on this globe than his creation ? 

But I have already dwelt so long upon this whole argu- 
29* 



342 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

ment in a former lecture, that I will add no more in this place. 
If the facts which 1 have stated do not prove the miracu- 
lous agency of the Deity in past ages, I know not how it can 
be proved. But assuming this position to be established, and 
several inferences of importance will follow. 

In the first place, this subject removes all philosophical 
presumption against a special revelation from heaven. 

If we can prove that the Deity has often so interfered with 
the course of nature as to introduce new species, nay, whole 
races of animals and plants upon the globe, — if, in a compar- 
atively recent period, he has created a moral and immortal 
being, endowed with all the powers of a free and an account- 
able agent, — it would surely be no more wonderful if he should 
communicate to that being his will by a written revelation. 
Indeed, the benevolence of the Deity, as we learn it from 
nature, would create a presumption that such a revelation 
would be given, if it appear, as we know it does, that no suffi- 
cient knowledge is inherent in his nature to guide him in the 
path of duty ; since such a revelation would be no greater 
miracle than to people the world, originally destitute of life, 
and then to repeople it again and again, with so vast a variety 
of organic natures. Philosophy has sometimes been disin- 
clined to admit the claims of revelation, because it implies a 
supernatural agency of the Deity ; and, until recently, reve- 
lation seemed to be a solitary example of special interference 
on the part of Jehovah. But geology adds other examples, 
long anterior to revelation — examples registered, like the laws 
of Sinai, on tables of stone. And the admission of the geo- 
logical evidence of special interference with the regular 
sequence of nature's operations ought to predispose the mind 
for listening to the appropriate proofs of a moral communi- 
cation to ignorant and erring man. 



MIRACLES AGREEABLE TO EXPERIENCE. 343 

In the second place, the subject shows us how groundless is 
the famous objection to the miracles recorded in Scripture, 
founded on the position that they are contrary to experience. 

" It is," says Mr. Hume, " a maxim worthy of our atten- 
tion, that no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, 
unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood 
would be more miraculous than the fact which it endeavors 
to establish." Hence he asserts, that " the evidence of tes- 
timony, when applied to a miracle, carries falsehood on the 
very face of it, and is more properly a subject of derision 
than of argument, " and that whoever believes the Christian 
religion is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, 
which subverts all the principles of his understanding, and 
gives him a determination to believe what is most contrary 
to custom and experience." 

At the time when Mr. Hume wrote, and with his great skill 
in weaving together metaphysical subtilties, such an argu- 
ment might deceive superficial minds ; for then a miracle was 
supposed to be contrary to all experience. But geology has 
disclosed many new chapters in the world's history, and shown 
the existence of miracles earlier than chronological dates. 
Even Mr. Hume would hardly deny that the creation of 
whole series of animals and plants was miraculous ; and yet, 
in proof of that creation, we need not depend upon testimony ; 
for we can read it with our own eyes upon the solid rocks. 
Such proof appeals directly to our common sense ; nor can any 
ingenious quibble, concerning the nature of human testimony, 
weaken its influence in producing conviction. 

And if God has wrought stupendous miracles of creation in 
order to people the world, who does not see that it is still more 
probable he would perform other miracles when they were 
needed to substantiate a revelation of his will to those moral 



344 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

and accountable beings, who needed its special teachings to 
make them acquainted with their God, their duty, and their 
destiny ? 

Finally. The subject removes all presumption against the 
exercise of a special and miraculous providence in the divine 
government of the world. 

In all ages of the world, philosophers, and even many theolo- 
gians, have been strenuous opposers of special and miraculous 
providence. If they have admitted, as most of the latter class 
have done, that some miracles were performed in ancient 
times, they have strenuously maintained that the doctrine of 
special providence in these days is absurd, and that God can- 
not, without a miracle, bestow any special favors upon the 
virtuous in answer to their prayers, or inflict any special pun- 
ishments upon the wicked ; and that it is fanaticism to expect 
any other retributions than such as the ordinaiy and unmodi- 
fied course of nature brings along with it. 

The unvarying constancy of nature, in consequence of 
being governed by fixed laws, is the grand argument which 
they adduce in opposition to any supposed special providence. 
Since the fathers fell asleep, say they, all things continue as 
they were from the beginning. God has subjected the world 
to the government of laws, and he will not interfere with, 
counteract, set aside, or give a supernatural force to those 
laws, to meet particular exigencies. For the adjustment of all 
apparent inequalities of good and evil, suffering and enjoy- 
ment here, we must wait for the disclosure of eternity, when 
strict retributive Justice will hold her even scales. When 
natural evils come upon us, therefore, it is idle to expect their 
removal, except so far as they may be mitigated or overcome 
by natural means ; and hence it is useless to pray for their 
removal, or to expect God will deliver us from them in any 



SPECIAL PROTECTION. 345 

other way. When the heavens over us become brass, and 
the earth under our feet iron, and the rain of our land is pow- 
der and dust, and want, and famine, as the consequence, stalk 
forth among the inhabitants, of what use to pray to God for 
rain, since to give it would require a miracle, and the age of 
miracles has passed ? When the pestilence is scouring through 
the land, and our neighbors and nearest friends are within its 
grasp, and we may next become its victims, — nay, when we, 
too, are on the borders of the grave, — why should we expect 
relief by prayer, since sickness is the result of natural causes, 
and God will not interpose to save us from the effects of nat- 
ural evils, because that would be contrary to a fixed rule of 
his government ? When dangers cluster around the good man 
in the discharge of trying duties, it would be enthusiasm in 
him to expect any special protection against his enemies, 
though he pray ever so fervently, and trust in divine deliver- 
ance with ever so much confidence. He must look to another 
world for his reward, if called to suffer here. Nor has the 
daringly wicked man any reason to fear that God will punish 
his violations of the divine law by any unusual display of his 
power ; not in any way, indeed, but by the evils which natu- 
rally flow from a wicked life. In short, it will be useless to 
pray for any blessing that requires the least interference with 
natural laws, or for the removal of any evil which depends 
upon those laws. And since our- minds are controlled as 
much by laws as the functions of our bodies, we are not to 
expect any blessings in our souls, which require the least 
infringement of intellectual laws. In fine, the effect of prayer 
is limited almost entirely to its influence upon our own hearts, 
in preparing them to receive with a proper spirit natural bless- 
ings, and to bear aright natural evils ; to stimulate us to use 



346 SPECIAL AND 3IIEACUL0US PROVIDENCE. 

with more diligence the means of avoiding or removing the 
latter, and securing the former. 

Xot a few philosophers of distinction, and some theologians, 
have adopted these views. Even Dr. Thomas Brown aaea 
the following language : " It is quite evident that even Omnip- 
otence, which cannot do what is contradictory, cannot com- 
bine both advantages — the advantage of regular order in the 
sequences of nature, and the advantages of a uniform adap- 
tation of the particular circumstances of the individual. We 
may take our choice, but we cannot think of a combination 
of both ; and if, as is very obvious, the greater advantage be that 
of uniformity of operation, we must not complain of the evils 
to which that very uniformity which we cannot fail to pre- 
fer — if the option had been allowed us — has been the very 
circumstance that gave rise/' — Lecture 94. 

" Science,"' says George Combe, i; has banished from the 
minds of profound thinkers belief in the exercise by the Deity, 
in our day, of special acts of supernatural power, as a means 
of influencing human affairs : and it has presented a system- 
atic order of nature, which man may study, comprehend, 
and follow, as a guide to his practical conduct. Many edu- 
cated laymen, and also a number of the clergy, have declined 
to recognize fasts, humiliations, and prayers, as means adapted, 
according to their views, to avert the recurrence of the evil, 
[the potato blight.] Indeed, these observances, inasmuch as 
they mislead the public mind with respect to its causes, are 
regarded by such persons as positive evils." 

•• The most irreligious of all religious notions, as it seems 
to us,*' says the North American Review, t; is a belief in special 
providences ; for if the doctrine has any w-eight at all, it is 
gained at the expense of a general providence. To assume to 



SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OPPOSED. 347 

detect God as nearer to us on some occasions is to put him 
farther off from us on other occasions. To have him in special 
incidents is to forget him in the common tenor of events. 
The doctrine of special providences evidently has no other 
foundation than this, that men think they can detect God's 
purpose and presence more signally in some incidents than 
in others ; so that the doctrine, after all, is only a compli- 
ment to man's power of detection, instead of an acknowledg- 
ment of God's special presence." 

Such views and reasonings seem, upon a superficial exami- 
nation, to be very plausible. But when we look into the 
Bible, we cannot but see that the main drift of it is directly 
opposed to such notions. That book does encourage man to 
pray to God for the removal of evils of every kind ; evils as 
much dependent upon natural laws as the daily course of the 
sun through the heavens. It does teach us to look to God in 
every trying situation for deliverance, if it is best for us to be 
delivered. It does represent the wicked man as in danger 
of special punishment. It exhibits a multitude of examples, 
in which God has thus delivered those who trusted in him, 
and punished those who violated his laws. 

In every age, too, the most devotedly pious men have tes- 
tified, that they have found deliverance and support in circum- 
stances in which mere natural laws could afford them no 
relief. Moreover, when men are brought into great peril or 
suffering of any kind, they involuntarily cry to God for help. 
When the vessel founders in the fury of the storm, the hard- 
ened sailor employs that breath in ardent prayer which just 
before had been poured out in blasphemies. And when the 
widowed mother hears the tempest howling around her dwell- 
ing at night, she cannot but pray for the protection of her 
child upon the treacherous sea. When violent disease racks 



348 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

the frame, and we feel ourselves rapidly sinking into the 
grave, it is scarcely in human nature to omit crying to God 
with a feeling that he can save us. In short, it is a dictate 
of nature to call upon God in times of trouble. Our reason- 
ing about the constancy of nature, which appears to us while 
in safety so clearly to show prayer for the removal of natural 
evils to be useless, loses its power, and the feelings of the 
heart triumph. It now becomes, therefore, an important prac- 
tical question, which of these views of the providence of God 
is correct. Is it those which our reasoning derives from the 
constancy of nature, or those inspired by piety and the Bible ? 
I have already said, that the subject of this lecture removes 
all presumption against the latter view ; and I now proceed to 
show how God can exercise a special providence over the 
world, so as to meet the case of every individual, whether for 
blessing or punishment, and that, too, without miracles. 

Whoever believes that geology discloses stupendous mira- 
cles of creation, at various epochs, will not doubt that all 
presumption against miraculous agency at any other time is 
thus removed. For we are thus shown that the law of mira- 
cles forms a part of the divine plan in the government of the 
world. But this does not prove the same to be the fact in 
respect to a law of special providence. 

It is indeed true that geology gives us no distinct examples 
of special providence, in the sense which we have attached to 
that term in the present lecture. But it does furnish a multi- 
tude of instances in which changes of physical condition in 
the earth were met by most wisely adapted changes of organic 
nature. And even though these changes were the result of 
miraculous agency, they disclose this principle of the divine 
government, viz., that peculiarities of condition are to be met 
by special arrangements, so that every exigency shall be 



SPECIAL PROVIDENCE, HOW BROUGHT ABOUT. 349 

provided for in the manner infinite wisdom sees to be best. 
Now, this principle constitutes the essence of special provi- 
dence ; and, therefore, geology, in showing its past operation 
in the world's early organic history, affords a presumption 
that the same unchanging God may still employ it in his nat- 
ural and moral government. 

But does not this principle of special adaptation to indi- 
vidual exigencies demand miraculous agency in all cases ? 
Can the wants of individuals be met in any other way than 
by miracles, or by the ordinary and settled laws of nature ? 
I maintain that there are other modes in which this can be 
done ; in which, in fact, every case requiring special inter- 
ference can be met exactly and fully. 

* This can be done, in the first place, by a divine influence 
exerted upon the human mind, unperceived by the individual. 

If it were perceived, it would constitute a miracle. But 
can we doubt that the Author of mind should be able to influ- 
ence it directly and indirectly, unperceived by the man so 
acted upon ? Even man can do this to his fellow ; and shall 
such a power be denied to God ? 

Now, in many cases, — I do not say all, — it only needs 
that the minds of others should be inclined to do so and so 
towards a man, in order to place him in circumstances most 
unlike those that would have surrounded him without such an 
influence. Even the very elements, being to some extent 
under human control, can thus be made subservient, or ad- 
verse, to an individual ; and, indeed, by a change in the feel- 
ings and conduct of others towards us, by an unseen influ- 
ence upon their minds, our whole outward condition may be 
changed. In this way, therefore, can God, in many instances, 
confer blessings on the virtuous, or execute punishment upon 
the wicked, or give special answers to special prayer ; and 
30 



350 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

yet there shall be no miracle about it, nor even the slightest 
violation of a law of matter or of mind. The result may 
seem to us only the natural effect of those laws, and yet 
the divine influence may have modified the effect to any 
extent. 

In the second place, God can so modify the second causes 
of events out of our sight, as to change wholly, or in part, the 
final result, and yet not disturb the usual order of nature 
within sight, so that there shall be no miracle. 

A miracle requires that the usual order of nature, as man 
sees it, be interrupted, or some force superadded to her 
agency. But if such change take place out of our sight, it 
might not disturb that order within sight ; and, therefore, to 
us it would be no miracle. 

The mode in which this can be done depends upon the fact 
that in nature we often find several causes, essential to produce 
an effect, connected together, as it were, in a chain ; so that 
each link depends upon that which precedes it. Thus the power 
of vision depends upon the optic nerve, in the bottom of the eye. 
But this would be useless, were not the coats and humors of 
the eye of a certain consistence and curvature, in order to 
bring the rays together to form an image on the retina. 
Again, these coats and humors depend upon light, and light 
depends for its transmission, probably, upon that exceedingly 
elastic medium called the luminiferous ether. This is as far 
back as we can trace the series of causes concerned in pro- 
ducing vision. And yet this elastic ether may depend upon 
something else, and this cause of the movement of the ether 
upon another cause ; and we know not how long the chain 
may be before we reach the great First Cause. Now, if any 
one of this series of second causes be modified, the effect 
will be a modification of the final result. This supposed 



CAUSES OUT OF SIGHT CHANGED. 351 

modification may take place in that part of the chain of 
causes within our view, or in that part concealed from us. If 
it took place within sight, it would constitute a miracle ; be- 
cause the regular sequence of cause and effect would be 
broken off, or an unnatural power be imparted to the cause 
producing the ultimate effect. If the modification took place 
in that part of the chain of second causes out of our sight, 
the final effect would be no miracle ; because it would be 
brought about by natural laws, and these would perfectly ex- 
plain it. Nevertheless, this ultimate effect would be different 
from what it would be if God had not touched and modified 
that link of causation which lies out of our sight, back among 
the secret agencies of his will. And I see not but in this 
way he might modify the ultimate effect as much as he 
pleased, and still preserve the unvarying constancy of nature. 
For in all these cases we should see only the links of the 
chain of causes nearest to us; and, provided they operated in 
their usual order, how could we know that any change had 
taken place in the region beyond our knowledge ? If the 
whole chain of causation were open to our inspection, then, 
indeed, would the transaction be an obvious miracle ; but 
now we see nothing but the unchanging operation of natu- 
ral laws. 

To illustrate this principle, let us imagine a few examples. 
Suppose the land visited by drought, and its pious inhabitants 
assemble to pray for rain. We know very well that the 
causes on which a storm of rain depend are very compli- 
cated. How easy for the divine Being, in answer to those 
prayers, to modify one or more of these secret agencies of 
meteorological change, that are concealed from our sight, so 
as to bring together the vapors over the land and condense 
them into rain! And yet that storm shall have nothing about 



352 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

it unusual, and it results from the same laws which we have 
before seen to be in operation. Still, it may have been the 
result of a special agency exerted by Jehovah in answer to 
prayer, yet in such a manner that no known law of nature is 
infringed upon, or even rendered more powerful in its action. 

Equally intricate and complicated are the causes of dis- 
ease, and especially of those pestilences that sometimes 
march over a whole continent, with the angel of death in 
their train ; and alike easy is it for God, in answer to earnest 
prayer, to avert their progress, or to cripple their power, or 
turn them aside from a particular district, without the least 
interference with the visible connection of cause and effect. 

The beloved father of a family lies upon a bed of sickness, 
and disease is fast gaining upon the powers of life. His nu- 
merous and desolate family, in spite of the cold suggestion 
that it will be of no avail, will earnestly beseech the Being in 
whose hands is the power of disease, to arrest the fatal mal- 
ady. And could not their Father in heaven, in the way I 
have pointed out, give them their request, and yet their 
parent's recovery be the natural result of careful nursing and 
medical skill ? imposing, however, upon that family as great 
an obligation as if a manifest miracle had been wrought to 
save him. 

The widow's only son, in spite of her counsels and en- 
treaties, becomes a vagabond upon the seas, and, at length, 
one of the crew of the battle ship. The perils of the deep 
and of vicious companions are enough to make that widow a 
daily and most earnest suppliant at the mercy-seat of her 
heavenly Father, for his protection and salvation. But, at 
length, war breaks out, and the perils of battle render his fate 
more doubtful. Still, faith in God buoys up her heart, and 
she cannot abandon the hope of yet seeing her son returned, 



SPECIAL REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 353 

reformed, and becoming a useful man. And at length, res- 
cued from the storm and shipwreck, and the carnage of bat- 
tle, and the yet more dangerous snares of sin, that youth 
returns, a renovated man, and cheers that mother's setting 
sun by an eminently useful life. Now, all this may have 
happened simply by the operation of natural laws. But it 
may also have been the result of divine interference in answer 
to prayer ; and hard will you find it to convince that rejoicing 
mother that the hand of God's extraordinary providence was 
not in it. 

The devoted missionary, at the promptings of a voice 
within, quits a land of safety and peace, and finds himself in 
the midst of dangers and sufferings of almost every name ; 
in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils in the 
city, in perils in the wilderness, in weariness, in watchings 
often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and 
nakedness. The furnace of persecution is heated, and he 
performs his duties with his life constantly in his hand. But 
he uses no weapon save faith and prayer. He feels that " he 
is immortal till his work is done." And, in fact, he outlives 
all his dangers, and, in venerable old age, surrounded by the 
fruits of his labor, — a reformed and affectionate people, — 
he passes quietly into the abodes of the blessed. Here, 
again, why should we hesitate to refer his protection and de- 
liverance to the special interposition of his heavenly Father, 
in the manner I have pointed out ? 

On the other hand, the history of dreadfully wicked men 
is full of terrible examples of calamity and suffering, as the 
consequence of their sins. True, the evil came upon them 
apparently by the operation of natural laws ; but shall we 
hence infer that God in no case has so modified these laws, 
by an agency among the hidden causes of events, as to make 
30* 



354 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

the result certain ? He certainly could do this ; and to say- 
that he never has done it, is to remove one of the most power- 
ful restraints that operate upon the wicked. 

In several examples recorded in the Bible, both of deliver- 
ance for the virtuous and of punishment for the wicked, so 
many natural agencies are concerned, that we are left in 
doubt whether the events are to be regarded as miraculous 
or not. Let the deluge, the destruction of Sodom, and the 
passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, serve as exam- 
ples. In the first, we find the flood imputed to a forty days' 
rain and the overflowing of the ocean ; and its reduction to a 
wind. In the destruction of the cities of the plain, the phe- 
nomena described correspond very well with the effects of 
volcanic agency ; and we find accordingly that the region 
where those cities stood shows marks of that agency. In 
the passage of the Red Sea, the removal of the waters, to 
allow the Israelites to pass, is imputed to a strong east wind 
all night. Nevertheless, the pillar of a cloud by day and the 
pillar of fire by night were a manifest and standing miracle 
in this transaction. 

Now, may it not be that, in all these cases, so far as natu- 
ral agencies were concerned, they were made to conspire 
with the miraculous in the manner which I have described, 
viz., by such a modification of some of the remote causes by 
which they were brought into action, as exactly to answer 
the divine purpose in the catastrophe of the deluge, of Sodom, 
and in the passage of the Red Sea ? 

A third mode by which the purposes of special providence 
can be brought about without miracles is by such an adjust- 
ment of the direct and lateral influences on which events de- 
pend, that the time and manner of their occurrence shall ex- 
actly meet every exigency. 



DIRECT AND LATERAL INFLUENCES. 355 

Although it expresses a truth to represent the second 
causes of events as constituting the links of a chain, it is not 
the whole truth. For, in fact, those causes are connected 
together in the form of a network, or, more exactly still, by 
a sphere filled with interlocked meshes ; or, to speak more 
mathematically, the forces by which events are produced are 
both direct and indirect. It would be easy to calculate the 
effect of a single direct force ; but if, in its progress, it meets 
with a multitude of oblique impulses, striking it at every pos- 
sible angle, what human mathematics can make out the final 
resultant ? Yet, in fact, such is the history of almost every 
event. The lateral influences, which meet and modify the 
direct force, are so numerous, and unexpected often, that 
men are amazed at the result, sometimes as unexpected as a 
miracle. " When an individual," says Isaac Taylor, " receives 
an answer to his prayer, the interposition may be made, not 
in the line which he himself is describing, but in one of those 
which are to meet him on his path ; and at a point, therefore, 
where, even though the visible constancy of nature should be 
violated, yet, as being at the time beyond the sphere of his 
observation, it is a violation not visible to him." " And herein 
is especially manifested the perfection of divine wisdom, that 
the most surprising conjunctions of events are brought about 
by the simplest means, and in a manner that is perfectly 
in harmony with the ordinary course of human affairs. This 
is, in fact, the great miracle of providence, that no miracles 
are needed to accomplish its purposes." — Nat. History of 
Enthusiasm, p. 128. 

This complication of causes does not merely give variety 
to the works and operations of nature, but it enables God to 
produce effects which could never have resulted from each 
law acting singly ; nor is there a scarcely conceivable limit to 



356 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE, 

these modifications. Indeed, in this way can Providence 
accomplish all his beneficent purposes, and meet every indi- 
vidual case, just as infinite wisdom would have it met. " By 
this agency," says M'Cosh, '* God can at one time increase, 
and at another time lessen, or completely nullify, the sponta- 
neous efforts of the fixed properties of matter. Now he can 
make the most powerful agents in nature — such as wind, 
fire, and disease — coincide and cooperate to produce effects 
of such a tremendous magnitude as none of them separately 
could accomplish ; and again, he can arrest their influence 
by counteracting agencies, or, rather, by making them coun- 
teract each other. He can, for instance, by a concurrence 
of natural laws, bring a person, who is in the enjoyment of 
health at present, to the very borders of death, an hour or an 
instant hence ; and he can, by a like means, suddenly restore 
the same or another individual to health, after he has been on 
the very verge of the grave. By the confluence of two or 
more streams, he can bring agencies of tremendous potency 
to bear upon the production of a given effect, such as a war, 
a pestilence, or a revolution ; and, on the other hand, by 
drawing aside the stream into another channel, he can arrest, 
at any given instant, the awful effects that would otherwise 
follow from these agencies, and save an individual, a family, 
or a nation, from the evils which seem ready to burst upon 
them. 

" Guided by these principles and guarded by sound sense, 
the inquiring mind will discover many and wonderful designed 
connections between the various events of divine providence. 
Read in the spirit of faith, striking coincidences will every 
where manifest themselves. What singular unions of two 
streams at the proper place to help on the exertions of the 
great and good ! What curious intersections of cords to 



THE ORIGINAL PLAN OF THE UNIVERSE. 357 

catch the wicked as in a net, when they are prowling as wild 
beasts ! By strange but most apposite correspondences, 
human strength, when set against the will of God, is made to 
waste away under God's indignation burning against it, as, in 
heathen story, Meleager wasted away as the stick burned 
which his mother held in the fire." — Method of the Divine 
Government, pp. 176, 203. 

In many cases, the lateral streams of influence that flow in 
and bring unexpected relief to the pious man, and unexpect- 
ed punishment to the wicked, or a marked answer to prayer, 
seem to the individuals little short of miraculous. Yet, after 
all, they can see no violation of the natural order of cause 
and effect. But the wonder is, how the modifying influence 
should come in just at the right moment. It may, indeed, have 
received a commission to do this very thing from the imme- 
diate impulse of Jehovah ; yet, being unperceived by us, it is 
no miracle. Or the whole plan may have been so arranged 
at the beginning that its development will meet every case 
of special providence exactly. Which of these views may 
be most accordant with truth, may admit of discussion. Yet 
we think that all the modes that have been pointed out, by 
which miraculous and special providences are brought about, 
may be referred to one general proposition, which we now 
proceed to state. 

In the fourth place, the plan of the universe in the divine 
mind, at the beginning, must have embraced every case of 
miracles and of special providence. 

From the nature of the divine attributes we infer with cer- 
tainty that every event occurring in the universe must have 
entered into the original plan of creation in the mind of God. 
Surely no one will deny that he must have foreseen the 



358 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

operation of every law which he established, and, consequently, 
every event which it would produce. But there must be 
some ground for foreknowledge to rest upon ; otherwise it is 
conjecture, not knowledge. And what could that basis be 
but the divine plan ? 

Equally clear is it that, whatever plans existed in the mind 
of God, when he brought the universe into existence, must 
always have been there. For to suppose that there was a 
point of duration when the plan was first conceived, would 
imply new knowledge in one confessedly omniscient ; and that 
destroys the idea of omniscience. 

Similar reasoning from the nature of the divine attributes 
leads us to the conclusion that God always acts according to 
law. That he does this in the ordinary operations of nature, 
all admit. But even when he introduces a miracle, — per- 
haps by a counteraction of ordinary laws, — he may still act 
by some rule ; so that, were precisely the same circum- 
stances to occur again, the same miracle would be repeated. 
Beforehand, we could not say whether God would conduct 
the affairs of the universe by one unvarying system of natu- 
ral laws, or occasionally interfere with the regular sequence 
of cause and effect by miracle. But though the latter course 
should be adopted, as we have reason to think it is, even the 
special interference must be according to law ; so that, in 
fact, there is a law of miracles as well as of common events. 
Again, if God sometimes alters one or more of the links out 
of sight, in a chain of second causes, in order to meet a 
providential exigency, or if he modifies for the same pur- 
pose some of the oblique influences by which events are 
affected, all this must be done by rule ; that is, by law. In- 
deed, to suppose him ever to act without law, is to represent 



ALL EVENTS FORESEEN. 359 

him as less wise than men, who, if judicious, are always 
governed by settled principles, which produce the same 
conduct in the same circumstances. 

From this reasoning we may safely infer two things : 
first, that the laws regulating miracles and special provi- 
dences are as fixed and certain as those of ordinary events ; 
and secondly, that those laws must have formed a part of 
the plan of creation originally existing in the divine mind. 
And hence, thirdly, we must admit that every case of miracle 
and special providence must have entered into that plan. 

When he formed it, he foresaw every possible event that 
would result from its operation to the end of the world. He 
saw distinctly the condition of every individual of the human 
family, from the beginning to the close of life ; all his dan- 
gers and trials, his sufferings and his sins ; and he knew 
just when and where every prayer would be offered up. Nor 
can it be any more doubtful that, with infinite wisdom to 
guide him, and infinite power to execute his will, God could 
so have arranged and constituted the laws of nature, as to 
meet exactly every case that should ever occur, just in the 
way he would wish to have it met. Those laws might have 
been so framed and disposed that, after running on in one 
unvarying course for ages, a new one might come in, or the 
old ones be modified, and at once produce effects quite differ- 
ent, and then the first laws resume again their usual course. 
And the new or modified law might be made to produce its 
extraordinary or peculiar effects just at the moment when 
some miracle or special providence would be needed. Thus 
what would be to us a special or miraculous interposition of 
divine power, might be the foreseen and foreordained result 
of God's original purpose. And if we can conceive how 
such an effect could be produced once, we cannot doubt that 



360 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

infinite wisdom and power could in like manner meet every 
possible case in which what we call special and miraculous 
providence would be needed. With our limited powers, we 
are obliged, after constructing a complicated machine, to put 
it into operation before we can judge certainly of its effects ; 
and then, if our wishes are not met, we must alter the parts, 
or in some other way meet the new cases that occur ; and 
hence we find it difficult to conceive how it can be otherwise 
with God. But he saw the operation of the vast machine of 
the universe just as clearly at the beginning as at any subse- 
quent period. He, therefore, can do at the beginning what 
we can do only after experience, viz., adapt the parts to every 
variety of circumstances. 

If I mistake not, we are indebted to Bishop Butler for the 
germ of these views ; but Professor Babbage has illustrated 
them by reference to an extraordinary machine of his own 
invention, called " The Calculating Engine." It is adapted 
to perform the most extensive and complicated numerical cal- 
culations, of course with absolute certainty, because its parts 
are arranged by certain laws. And he finds that precisely 
such effects, on a small scale, can be produced by this ma- 
chine, as have been imputed above to the divine agency in 
creation. It is moved by a weight and a wheel which turns 
at a short interval around its axis, and prints a series of natu- 
ral numbers, — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c, — each exceeding its ante- 
cedent by unity. "Now, reader, let me ask you," says Pro- 
fessor Babbage, " how long you will have counted before you 
are firmly convinced that the engine, supposing its adjustments 
to remain unaltered, will continue, whilst its motion is main- 
tained, to produce the same series of natural numbers. Some 
minds, perhaps, are so constituted that, after passing the first 
hundred terms, they will be satisfied that they are acquainted 



THE CALCULATING MACHINE. 361 

with the law. After seeing five hundred terms, few will doubt ; 
and after the fifty thousandth term, the propensity to believe 
the succeeding term will be fifty thousand and one, will be 
almost irresistible. That term will be fifty thousand and one ; 
the same regular succession will continue ; the five millionth 
and the fifty millionth term will appear in their expected 
order, and one unbroken chain of numbers will pass be- 
fore you, from one up to one hundred millions. True to 
the vast induction which has thus been made, the next suc- 
ceeding term will be one hundred millions and one ; but after 
that, the next number presented by the rim of the wheel, in- 
stead of being one hundred millions and two, is one hundred 
millions ten thousand and two. 

" The law which seemed to govern this series fails at the one 
hundred million and second term. That term is larger than 
we expected by ten thousand. The next term is larger than 
was anticipated by thirty thousand. If we still continue to 
observe the numbers presented by the wheel, we shall find 
that for a hundred, or even for a thousand terms, they con- 
tinue to follow the new law relating to the triangular num- 
bers ; but after watching them for twenty-seven hundred and 
sixty-one terms, we find that this law fails in the case of the 
twenty-seven hundred and sixty-second term. If we con- 
tinue to observe, another law then comes into action. This 
will continue through fourteen hundred and thirty terms, when 
a new law is again introduced, which extends over about nine 
hundred and fifty terms ; and this, too, like all its predeces- 
sors, fails, and gives place to other laws, which appear at 
different intervals. It is also possible so to arrange the engine, 
that at any periods, however remote, the first law shall be 
interrupted for one or more times, and be superseded by any 
31 



SPECIAL AND MIRACfLOUS PROVIDENCE. 

other laws, after which the original law shall be again pro- 
duced, and no other deviation shall ever take place. 

" Now, it must be remarked that the law that each number 
presented by the engine is greater by unity than the pre- 
ceding number, which law the observer had deduced from an 
induction of a hundred million of instances, was not the true 
law that regulated its action ; and that the occurrence of the 
number one hundred million ten thousand and two at the one 
hundred million and second term was as necessary a conse- 
quence of the original adjustment as was the regular succes- 
sion of any one of the intermediate numbers to its immediate 
antecedent. The same remark applies to the next apparent 
deviation from the new law, which w T as founded on an induc- 
tion of two thousand seven hundred and sixty-one terms ; and 
to all the succeeding laws, with this limitation only, that whilst 
their consecutive introduction at various definite intervals is a 
necessary consequence of the mechanical structure of the 
engine, our knowledge of analysis does not yet enable us to 
predict the periods at which the more distant laws will be 
introduced." — Ninth Bridge-water Treatise. 

The application of these statements to the doctrine of special 
as well as of miraculous providence is very obvious. If 
human ingenuity can construct a machine which shall exhibit 
the introduction of new laws, after the old ones had been 
established by an induction of a hundred million of examples, 
and these new ones be succeeded by others, how much easier 
for the infinite God to construct the vast and more compli- 
cated machine of the universe, so that new laws, or modifi- 
cations of the old ones, shall be introduced at various periods 
of its history, to meet every exigency ! How easy for him so 
to adjust this machine at the beginning, that the new laws and 



OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 363 

new modes of action should be introduced, precisely at those 
points where a special providence would be desirable, to 
reward the virtuous and to punish the wicked, and then the 
old law again assume its dominion ! And how easily, in this 
way, could the case of every individual be met, from the 
beginning to the end of the world ! I mean, how easy would 
this work be to infinite wisdom and power ! 

But if all events, miraculous as well as common, may de- 
pend upon unbending law, how does such a view differ from 
the one I am now opposing, viz., that the constancy of nature's 
laws precludes the idea of any special interference on the 
part of God, in human affairs ? The main point of difference, 
I reply, is, that the advocates of the latter view will not admit 
any such thing at the present day as special interference, on 
the part of the Deity, with nature. They admit only uniform 
and ordinary laws, which they suppose are never interrupted. 
This I deny ; and endeavor to show, not only that the contrary 
may be a fact, but that God purposed it originally, and deter- 
mined the laws by which it might be accomplished. The fact 
that he did this beforehand, even from eternity, no more pre- 
cludes his agency, than the special interference of a father to 
help his child through a dangerous pass is disproved, because 
he foresaw the danger and provided the means of defence even 
before the child was born. If the father was actually with 
the child, as he went through the danger, and held out to him 
the requisite help, what difference could it make, though the 
father purposed to do so a long time previously ? And if we 
admit that God's efficiency alone gives power to the ordinary 
laws of nature, we shall admit that in every special law he is 
as really present with his energy, as a father who should lead 
his child by the hand through the dangerous path. So that, 
practically at least, the difference between these two views of 



364 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

the subject is very great ; the one removing God far away, 
and putting law in his place ; and the other bringing him 
near, and making him the actual and constant agent in every 
event. The one view is practical atheism, although often 
adopted by religious men ; the other is practical Christianity. 

By the principles of physical science, then, the scriptural 
doctrines of miraculous and special providence are proved to 
be in accordance with philosophy. The miracles of rev- 
elation are shown to have been preceded by the miracles of 
geology ; and are, therefore, in conformity with the princi- 
ples of the divine government. The modifications which God 
can make in the causes of events out of human view, or the 
changes which he can produce by lateral influences upon the 
final result, — all, it may be, in conformity to an eternal 
plan, reaching the minutest of human affairs, — enable him to 
execute every purpose of special providence so as to satisfy 
every exigency. 

The sceptic may say, that we cannot prove by facts that 
God dees so modify and arrange the laws and operations of 
nature as to adapt his dealings to the case of individuals. But, 
on the other hand, neither can he show that God does not 
thus interfere with nature's uniformity. It is enough to show 
that he can do it without a miracle, in order to establish the 
doctrine of special providence. How often he exercises this 
power, we cannot know ; but we may be sure as often as is 
desirable. 

A most important application of these principles may be 
made to the subject of prayer. For in answering prayer, 
God is, in fact, merely executing some of the purposes of his 
special providence ; and it is gratifying to the pious heart to 
see how he can give an answer to the humblest petitioner. 
No matter though all the laws of nature seem in the way of an 



PERVERSION OF THE TRUTH. 365 

answer, — God can so modify their action as to conform them 
to the case of every petitioner. War, famine, and pestilence 
may all be upon us, yet humble prayer may turn them all 
aside, and every other physical evil ; and that without a mir- 
acle, if best for us and for the universe. Tell a man that the 
only effect of prayer is its reflex influence upon himself, in 
leading him to conform more strictly to nature's laws, and 
you send a paralysis and a death chill into all his moral sen- 
sibilities. Indeed, he cannot pray ; but tell him that God will 
be influenced, as is any earthly friend, by his supplications, 
and his heart beats full and strong, the current of life goes 
bounding through his whole system, the glow of health man- 
tles his cheek, and all his senses are roused into intense and 
delightful action. 

The sad influence of a perversion and misunderstanding of 
the doctrine of nature's constancy upon the youthful mind is 
well exhibited by a late able writer. " Early trained to it 
under the domestic roof," says M'Cosh, " the person regu- 
larly engaged in prayer during childhood and opening man- 
hood. But as he became introduced to general society, and 
began to feel his independence of the guardians of his youth, 
he was tempted to look upon the father's commands, in this 
respect, as proceeding from sourness and sternness, and the 
mother's advice as originating in an amiable weakness and 
timidity. He is now careless in- the performance of acts 
which in time past had been punctually attended to. How 
short, how hurried, how cold are the prayers which he now 
utters ! Then there come to be mornings on which he is 
snatched away to some very important or enticing work with- 
out engaging in his customary devotions. There are evenings, 
too, following days of mad excitement or sinful pleasure, in 
which he feels utterly indisposed to go into the presence of 
31* 



366 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

God, and to be left alone with him. He feels that there is an 
utter incongruity between the ball-room, or .the theatre, which 
he has just left, and the throne of grace, to which he should 
now go. What can he say to God, when he would pray to 
him? Confess his sins? No; he does not at present feel - 
the act to be sinful. Thank God for giving him access to 
such follies ? He has his doubts whether God approves of all 
that has been done. But he may ask God's blessing ? No ; 
he is scarcely disposed to acknowledge that he needs a bless- 
ing, or he doubts whether the blessing would be given. The 
practical conclusion to which he comes is, that it may be as 
consistent in him to betake himself to sleep without offering 
to God what he feels would only be a mockery. What is he 
to do the following morning ? It is a critical time. Confess 
his error ? No ; cherishing as he does the recollection of the 
gay scene in which he mingled, and with the taste and relish 
of it yet upon his palate, he is not prepared to acknowledge 
his folly. Morning and evening now go and return, and bring 
new gifts from God, and new manifestations of his goodness; 
but no acknowledgment of the divine bounty on the part of 
him who is yet ever receiving it. No doubt there are times 
when he is prompted to prayer by powerful feelings, called 
up by outward trials or inward convictions ; but ever when 
the storms of human life would drive him to the shore, there 
is a tide beating him back. His course continues to be a very 
vacillating one — now seeming to approach to God, and anon 
driven farther from him, till he obtains from books, or from 
lectures, a smattering of half-understood science. He now 
learns that all things are governed by laws, regular and fixed, 
over which the breath of prayer can exert as little influence, 
as they move on in their allotted course, as the passing breeze 
of the earth over the sun in his circuit. False philosophy has 



WANT OF CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER. 367 

now come to the aid of guilty feelings, and hardens their cold 
waters into an icicle lying at his very heart, cooling all his 
ardor, and damping all his enthusiasm. He looks back, at 
times, no doubt, to the simple faith of his childhood with a 
sigh ; but it is as to a pleasing dream, or illusion, from which 
he has been awakened, and into which, the spell being broken, 
he can never again fall." — Method of the Divine Govern- 
ment, p. 224. 

O, what a change would this world exhibit, were the whole 
Christian church to exercise full faith in God's ability to an- 
swer prayer without a miracle, only to the extent pointed out 
by philosophy, to say nothing of the Bible ; for, in fact, a 
large proportion of that church, confounded by the specious ar- 
gument derived from nature's constancy, have virtually yielded 
this most important principle to the demands of scepticism. 
When natural evils, such as war, famine, drought, and pesti- 
lence, came upon our forefathers, they, taking the Bible for 
their guide, observed days of fasting and prayer for their 
removal. But how seldom do their descendants follow their ex- 
ample ! And yet even physical science testifies that the fathers 
icted in conformity to the true principles of philosophy. 
Would that the Christian church would consent to be led back 
to the Bible doctrine on this subject by philosophy. 

That same philosophy, also, should lead the good man, 
when struggling through difficulties, to exercise unshaken 
confidence in the divine protection, even though all nature's 
laws seem arrayed against him ; for at the unseen touch of 
God's efficiency, the iron bars of law shall melt away like 
wax, and deliverance be given in the midst of appalling dan- 
gers, if best for the man and for the universe ; and if not best, 
he will not desire it. 

Science, too, bids the wicked man not to fancy that the 



368 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 

constancy of nature will shield him from the infliction of 
merited and special punishment, should God choose to make 
bare the rod of his justice ; for the blow may come as cer- 
tainly in the course of nature as against it. 

Let modern Christian theology, then, receive meekly the re- 
buke administered on this important point by physical science. 
For how lame and halting a defence of the Scripture doctrine 
of special providence and prayer has that theology been able to 
make ! How few of our systems of theology contain a man- 
ful vindication of truths so important ! Let not the Christian 
divine, therefore, refuse the aid thus offered by physical sci- 
ence. Let him no longer indulge groundless jealousies against 
true philosophy, as if adverse to religion. Especially let him 
not spurn the aid of geology, which alone, of all the sciences, 
discloses stupendous miracles of creation in early times, and 
thus removes all presumption against the miracles of Chris- 
tianity and special providence at any time. 

It is, indeed, an instructive fact, that a science which has 
been thought so full of danger to Christianity should thus 
early be found vindicating some of the most peculiar and 
long-contested doctrines of revelation. And yet it ought not 
to surprise us, for geology is as really the work of God as 
revelation. And though, when ill understood and perverted, 
she may have seemed recreant to her celestial origin, yet the 
more fully her proportions are developed, and her features 
brought into daylight, the more clearly do we recognize hei 
alliance to everything pure and noble in the universe. " And 
surely," says a late writer, " it must be gratifying thus to see 
a science, formerly classed, and not perhaps unjustly, amongst 
the most pernicious to faith, once more become her hand- 
maid ; to see her now, after so many years of wandering from 
theory to theory, or rather from vision to vision, return once 



GEOLOGY THE HANDMAID OF CHRISTIANITY. 369 

more to the home where she was born, and to the altar at 
which she made her first simple offerings ; no longer, as she 
first went forth, a wilful, dreamy, empty-handed child, but 
with a matronly dignity, and a priest-like step, and a bosom 
full of well-earned gifts, to pile upon its sacred hearth. For 
it was religion which gave geology birth, and to the sanciuary 
she hath once more returned." — Wiseman's Lectures on 
Science and Revealed Religion, p. 192, Am. ed. 



(370) 



LECTURE XI. 

THE FUTURE CONDITION AND DESTINY OF THE 
EARTH. 

Man has a stronger desire to penetrate the future than the 
past. And yet the details of most future events are wisely- 
concealed from him. There are two, and only two, sources 
of evidence from which he can obtain some glimpses of 
what will be hereafter. The one is revelation, the other 
analogy. So far as God has thought proper to reveal the fu- 
ture, our information is precise and certain. But it does not 
embrace a multitude of events about which we have strong 
curiosity. By analogy is meant a prediction of the future 
from the past. On the principle that nature is constant, we 
infer what will be from what has been. If, however, new 
laws are hereafter to come into operation, or if present agen- 
cies will then operate very differently from what they now 
do, it is obvious that analogy can be only an imperfect guide 
Still, in respect to many important events, its conclusions are 
infallible. Judging, for instance, from the past, we are abso- 
lutely certain that no living thing will escape the great 
law of dissolution, which, thus far, apart from the few ex- 
ceptions made known to us by revelation, has been uni- 
versal. 

The future changes in the condition of the earth, as they 
are taught us by revelation and analogy, or, rather, by geolo- 
gy, will form the subject of my present lecture. And my 



FUTURE CHANGES IN THE EARTH'S CONDITION. 371 

first object will be, to ascertain, if possible, precisely what 
the Bible teaches us concerning these changes. 

We find in the Scriptures several descriptions, more or less 
definite, of the changes which this globe will hereafter under- 
go. Some of them, however, are couched in the figurative 
language of prophecy, and others are incidental allusions ; 
and concerning the precise meaning of such descriptions, 
there will, of course, be a diversity of opinion. 

There are, however, some passages on this subject as lit- 
eral and as precise in their meaning as language can be. 
Now, it is one of the rules for interpreting language, that, 
where a work contains several accounts of the same event, 
the description which is most simple and literal ought to be 
made the index for obtaining the meaning of those passages 
which are figurative, or, on any account, obscure. I shall, 
therefore, select the passage of Scripture which all acknowl- 
edge to be most plain and definite, respecting the future de- 
struction of the earth, and the new heavens and earth that are 
to succeed, and first inquire into its precise meaning; after 
which, we shall be better prepared to ascertain what modi- 
fication of that meaning other passages of sacred writ 
demand. 

It needs but a cursory examination of the Bible to convince 
any one that the description in the Second Epistle of Peter 
of the future destruction and renovation of the earth and 
heavens, is eminently the passage first to be examined, be- 
cause the fullest and clearest on this subject. It is the apos- 
tle's object directly and literally to describe these great 
changes, apart from all embellishments of language. 

There shall come, says he, in the last days, scoffers, walk' 
ing after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise 
of his coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things 



372 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

continue as they were from the beginning of the creation 
For this they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of 
God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of 
the water and in the water ; whereby the world that then 
was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens 
and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in 
store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment and 
perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of 
this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand 
years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not 
slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, 
but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should 
perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day 
of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which 
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the ele- 
ments shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth, also, and the 
works that are therein, shall be burned up. Seeing, then, 
that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of per- 
sons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness ? 
Looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, 
wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the 
elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, ac- 
cording to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new 
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 

It would require too much time, and, moreover, is not 
necessary to the object I have in view, to enter into minute 
verbal criticism upon this passage. I will only remark that 
the phrase translated the earth and the works that are therein, 
might with equal propriety be rendered " the earth and the 
works that are thereon ; V and yet the difference of meaning 
between the two modes of expression is of no great impor- 
tance. Again, by the term heavens, in this passage, we are 



WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH ? 373 

evidently to understand the atmosphere, or region immediate- 
ly surrounding the earth ; as in the first chapter of Genesis, 
where it is said that God called the firmament heavens ; the 
plural form being used in the Hebrew, though not in the Eng- 
lish translation. 

What, now, by a fair exegesis, is taught in this passage 
concerning the destruction and renovation of the world ? 
The following train of remark may conduct us to the true 
answer to this inquiry : — 

In the first place, this passage is to be understood literally. 
It would seem as if it could hardly be necessary to present 
any formal proof of this position to any person of common 
sense, who had read the passage. But the fact is, that men 
of no mean reputation as commentators have maintained that 
the whole of it is only a vivid figurative prophecy of the de- 
struction of Jerusalem. Others suppose the new heavens 
and new earth here described to exist before the conflagration 
of the world. But these new heavens and earth are repre- 
sented as the residence of the righteous, after the burning 
and melting of the earth, which, according to other parts of 
Scripture, is to take place at the end of the world, or at the 
general judgment. How strange that, in order to sustain a 
favorite theory, able men should thus invert the obvious order 
of these great events, so clearly described in the Bible ! 
Still more absurd is it to attempt to fasten a figurative charac- 
ter upon this most simple statement of inspiration. It is, 
indeed, true, that the prophets have sometimes set forth great 
political and moral changes, the downfall of empires, or of 
distinguished men, by the destruction of the heavens and the 
earth, and the growing pale and darkening of the sun and 
moon. But in all these cases the figurative character of the 
description is most obvious ; while in the passage from Peter 
32 



374 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

its literal character is equally obvious. Take, for example, 
this statement — By the word of God the heavens were of 
old, and the earth, standing out. of the water and in the water ; 
whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, 
'perished. But the heavens and the earth, ivhich are now, by 
the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire, against 
the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 

I believe no one has ever doubted that the destruction of 
the world by water, here described, refers to Noah's deluge. 
Now, how absurd to admit that this is a literal description of 
that event, and then to maintain the remainder of the sen- 
tence, which declares the future destruction of that same 
world by fire, to be figurative in the highest degree ! For if 
this destruction mean only the destruction of Jerusalem, or 
any other great political or moral revolution, the language is 
one of the boldest figures which can be framed. Who, that 
knows any thing of the laws of language, does not see the 
supreme absurdity of thus coupling in the same sentence the 
most simple and certain literality with the strongest of all 
figures ? What mark is given us, by which we may know 
where the boundary is between the literal and the metaphor- 
ical sense ? From what part of the Bible, or from what un- 
inspired author, can a parallel example be adduced ? What 
but the strongest necessity, the most decided exigentia loci, 
would justify such an anomalous interpretation of any author ? 
Nay, I do not believe any necessity could justify it. It would 
be more reasonable to infer that the passage had no meaning, 
or an absurd one. But surely no such necessity exists in the 
present case. Understood literally, the passage teaches only 
what is often expressed, though less fully, in many other 
parts of Scripture ; and even though some of these other 
passages should be involved in a degree of obscurity, — and 



the world's destruction. 375 

I am not disposed to deny that some obscurity rests upon one 
or two of them, — it would be no good reason for transform- 
ing so plain a description into a highly-wrought figurative 
representation ; especially when by no ingenuity can we 
thus alter more than one part of the sentence. I conclude, 
therefore, that, if any part of the Bible is literal, we are thus 
to consider this chapter of Peter. 

In the second place, this passage does not teach that the 
earth will be annihilated. 

The prevailing opinion in this country, probably, has been, 
and still is, that the destruction of the world described by 
Peter will amount to annihilation — that the matter of the 
globe will cease to be. But in all ages there have been many 
who believe that the destruction will be only the ruin of the 
present economy of the world, but not its utter extinction. 
And surely Peter's description does not imply annihilation of 
the matter of the globe. He makes fire the agent of the de- 
struction, and, in order to ascertain the extent of the ruin that 
will follow, we have only to inquire what effect combustion 
will have upon matter. The common opinion is, that intense 
combustion actually destroys or annihilates matter, because it 
is thereby dissipated. But the chemist knows that not one 
particle of matter has ever been thus deprived of existence ; 
that fire only changes the form of matter, but never annihilates 
it. When solid matter is changed into gas, as in most cases 
of combustion, it seems to be annihilated, because it disap- 
pears ; but it has only assumed a new form, and exists as 
really as before. Since, therefore, biblical and scientific 
truth must agree, we may be sure that the apostle never 
meant to teach that the matter of the globe would cease to 
be, through the action of fire upon it ; nor is there any thing 
in his language that implies such a result, but most obviously 
the reverse. 



376 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

If these things be so, then, in the third place, we may infer 
that Peter did not mean to teach that the matter of the globe 
would be in the least diminished by the final conflagration. 
I doubt not the sufficiency of divine power partially or wholly 
to annihilate the material universe. But heat, however in- 
tense, has no tendency to do this ; it only gives matter a new 
form. And heat is the only agency which the apostle repre- 
sents as employed. In short, we have no evidence, either 
from science or revelation, that the minutest atom of matter 
has ever been destroyed since the original creation ; nor have 
we any more evidence that any of it ever will be reduced to 
the nothingness from which it sprang. The prevalent ideas 
upon this subject all result from erroneous notions of the effect 
of intense heat. 

In the fourth place, the passage under consideration teaches 
us that whatever upon or within the earth is capable of com- 
bustion will undergo that change, and that the entire globe 
will be melted. 

The language of Peter has always seemed to me extreme- 
ly interesting. He says that the heavens [or atmosphere] will 
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with 
fervent heat ; the earth, also, and the works that are therein, 
shall be burned up ; looking for, and hasting unto the com- 
ing of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, 
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat. 

This language approaches nearer to an anticipation of the 
scientific discoveries of modern times than any other part of 
Scripture. And yet, at the time it was written, it would not 
have enabled any one to understand the chemistry of the 
great changes which it describes. But, now that their chem- 
istry is understood, we perceive that the language is adapted 



peter's account. 377 

to it, in a manner which no uninspired writer would have 
done. The atmosphere is represented as passing away with 
a great noise — an effect which the chemist would predict by 
the union of its oxygen with the hydrogen and other gases 
liberated by the intense heat. Yet what uninspired writer of 
the first century would have imagined such a result ? 

Again, when we consider the notions which then prevailed, 
and which are still widely diffused, why should the apostle add 
to the simple statement that the earth would be burnt up, the 
declaration that its elements would be melted ? For the im- 
pression was, that the combustion would entirely destroy the 
matter of the globe. But the chemist finds that the greater 
part of the earth has already been oxidized, or burnt, and on 
this matter the only effect of the heat, unless intense enough 
to dissipate it, would be to melt it. If, therefore, the apostle 
had said only that the world would be burnt up, the scepti- 
cal chemist would have inferred that he had made a mistake 
through ignorance of chemistry. But he cannot now draw 
such an inference ; for the apostle's language clearly implies 
that only the combustible matter of the globe will be burnt, 
while the elements, or first principles of things, will be melt- 
ed ; so that the final result will be an entire liquid, fiery 
globe. Such a wonderful adaptation of his description to 
modern science could not surely have resulted from human 
sagacity, but must be the fruit of divine inspiration. 

And this adaptation is the more wonderful when we find it 
running through the whole Bible wherever the sacred writers 
come in contact with scientific subjects. In this respect, the 
Bible differs from every other system of religion professedly 
from heaven. 

Whenever other systems have treated of the works of 
nature, they have sanctioned some error, and thus put into 
32* 



378 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

the hands of modern science the means of detecting the 
imposture. The Vedas of India adopt the absurd notions 
of an ignorant and polytheistic age respecting astronomy, 
and the Koran adopts as infallible truth the absurdities of the 
Ptolemaic system. But hitherto the Bible has never been 
proved to come into collision with any scientific discovery, 
although many of its books were written in the rudest and 
most ignorant ages. It does not, indeed, anticipate scientific 
discovery. But the remarkable adaptation of its language to 
such discoveries, when they are made, seems to me a more 
striking mark of its divine origin than if it had contained a 
revelation of the whole system of modern science. 

In the fifth place, the passage under consideration teaches 
that this earth will be renovated by the final conflagration, 
and become the abode of the righteous. After describing 
the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be 
dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, Peter 
adds, Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for 
new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous- 
ness. Now, the apostle does not here, in so many words, de- 
clare that the new heavens and earth will be the present 
world and its atmosphere, purified and renovated by fire. 
But it is certainly a natural inference that such was his 
meaning. For if he intended some other remote and quite 
different place, why should he call it earth, and, especially, 
why should he surround it with an atmosphere ? The nat- 
ural and most obvious meaning of the passage surely is, that 
the future residence of the righteous will be this present ter- 
raqueous globe, after its entire organic and combustible matter 
shall have been destroyed, and its whole mass reduced by 
heat to a liquid state, and then a new economy reared up on 
its surface, not adapted to sinful, but to sinless beings, and, 



OTHER PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 379 

therefore, quite different from its present condition — probably 
more perfect, but still the same earth and surrounding heavens. 

There are, indeed, some difficulties in the way of such a 
meaning to this passage, and objections to a material heaven ; 
and these I shall notice in the proper place. But I have 
given what seems to me the natural and obvious meaning of 
the passage. 

Such, as I conceive, are the fair inferences from the apos- 
tle's description of the end of the world. Let us now inquire 
whether any other passages of Scripture require us to modify 
this meaning. 

The idea of a future destruction of the world by fire is 
recognized in various places, both in the Old and New Tes- 
taments. Christ speaks more than once of heaven and earth 
as passing away. Paul speaks of Christ as descending, at the 
end of the world, in flaming fire. And the Psalmist describes 
the destruction of the heavens and the earth as a renovation. 
They shall perish, says he, but thou [God] shalt endure ; yea, 
all of them shall wax old like a garment, and as a vesture 
shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. In Reve- 
lation, after the apostle had given a vivid description of the 
final judgment and its retributions, he says, And I saw a new 
heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven and the first 
earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. He then 
proceeds to give a minute and glowing description of what 
he calls the New Jerusalem, coming down from God, out of 
heaven. It is scarcely possible to understand the whole of 
this description as literally true. We must rather regard it 
as a figurative representation of the heavenly state. And hence 
the first verse, which speaks of the new heavens and the new 
earth, in almost the same language which Peter uses, may 
be also figurative, indicating merely a more exalted condition 



380 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

than the present world. Hence, I would not use this passage 
to sustain the interpretation given of the literal description by 
Peter. And yet it is by no means improbable that the figu- 
rative language of John may have for its basis the same truths 
which are taught by Peter. Nor ought we to infer, because 
a figure is built upon that basis in the apocalyptic vision, that 
the simple statements of Peter are metaphorical. 

In the passage quoted from Peter, it is said, Nevertheless, 
we, according to Ms promise, look for new heavens and a new 
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Most writers have 
supposed the apostle to refer either to the promise made to 
Abraham, that his seed should inherit the land, or to a proph- 
ecy in Isaiah, which says, Behold, I create new heavens, and a 
new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, or come 
into mind. But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which 
I create ; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her 
people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my 
people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in 
her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence 
an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filed his 
days ; for the child shall die a hundred years old ; but the 
sinner, being a hundred years old, shall be accursed. And 
they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall 
plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not 
build, and another inhabit ; they shall not plant, and another 
eat ; for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and 
mine elect shall long enjoy the works of their hands. The 
wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat 
straw like the bullock ; and dust shall be the serpent's meat. 
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, 
saith the Lord. 

Now, it seems highly probable that the new heavens and 



381 

earth, here described, represent a state of things on the pres- 
ent earth before the day of judgment, and not a heavenly 
and immortal state ; for sin and death are spoken of as 
existing in it; both which, we are assured, will be excluded 
from heaven. Hence able biblical writers refer this prophecy 
to the millennial state, or the period when there will be a 
general prevalence of Christianity. In this they are probably 
correct. But some of these writers, as Low and Whitby, 
proceed a step farther, and infer that Peter's description of 
the new heavens and new earth belong also to the millennial 
period ; first, because they presume that the apostle referred 
to this promise in Isaiah ; and secondly, because he uses the 
same terms, namely, " new heavens and new earth." But are 
these grounds sufficient to justify so important a conclusion ? 
How common it is to find the same words and phrases in 
the Bible applied by different writers to different subjects, 
especially by the prophets ! Even if we can suppose Peter to 
place the new heavens and the new earth before the judg- 
ment, in despite of his plain declaration to the contrary, yet 
there are few who will doubt that the new heavens and earth 
described in revelation are subsequent to the judgment day, 
so vividly described in the verses immediately preceding. 

And as to the promise referred to by Peter, if he really 
describes the heavenly state, surely it may he found in a mul- 
titude of places ; wherever, indeed, immortal life and bless- 
edness are offered to faith and obedience. Isaiah, therefore, 
may be giving a figurative description of a glorious state of 
the church in this world, under the terms " new heavens and 
new earth," emblematical of those real new heavens and new 
earth beyond the grave, described by Peter. And hence, 
it seems to me, the language of the prophet should not be al- 
lowed to set aside, or modify, the plain meaning of the apostle. 



382 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

I shall quote only one other passage of the Bible on this 
subject. I refer to that difficult text in Romans, which repre- 
sents the whole creation as groaning and travailing together 
in pain until now ; and that it will be delivered from the 
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children 
of God. 

I have stated in a former lecture, that Tholuck, the distin- 
guished German theologian, considers this a description of 
the present bound and fettered condition of all nature, and 
that the deliverance refers to the future renovation of the 
earth. Such an exposition chimes in perfectly with the views 
on this subject which have long and extensively prevailed in 
Germany. And it certainly does give a consistent meaning to 
a passage which has been to commentators a perfect labyrinth 
of difficulties. If this be not its meaning, then I may safely 
say that its meaning has not yet been found out. 

In view, then, of all the important passages of Scripture 
concerning the future destruction and renovation of the earth, 
I think we may fairly conclude that none of them require us 
to modify the natural and obvious meaning of Peter which 
has been given. In general, they all coincide with the views 
presented by that apostle ; or if, in any case, there is a slight 
apparent difference, the figurative character of all other state- 
ments besides his require us to receive his views as the true 
standard, and t'o modify the meaning of the others. We may, 
therefore, conclude that the Bible does plainly and distinctly 
teach us that this earth will hereafter be burned up ; in other 
words, that all upon or within it, capable of combustion, will 
be consumed, and the entire mass, the elements, without the 
loss of one particle of the matter now existing, will be melted ; 
and then, that the world, thus purified from the contamina- 
tion of sin, and surrounded by a new atmosphere, or heavens, 



THE CATACLYSM AND ECPYROSIS. 383 

and adapted in all respects to the nature and wants of spiritual 
and sinless beings, will become the residence of the righteous. 
Of the precise nature of that new dispensation, and of the 
mode of existence there, the Scriptures are indeed silent. 
But that, like the present world, it will be material, — that there 
will be a solid globe, and a transparent expanse around it, 
— seems most clearly indicated in the sacred record. 

The wide-spread opinion that heaven will be a sort of airy- 
Elysium, where the present laws of nature will be unknown, 
and where matter, if it exist, can exist only in its most atten- 
uated form, is a notion to which the Bible is a stranger. 

The resurrection of the body, as well as the language of 
Peter, most clearly show us that the future world will be a 
solid, material world, purified indeed, and beautified, but 
retaining its materialism. 

Let us now see whether, in coming to these conclusions 
from Scripture language, we are influenced by scientific con- 
siderations, or whether many discerning minds have not, in 
all ages, attached a similar meaning to the inspired record. 

Among all nations, the history of whose opinions have come 
down to us, and especially among the Greeks, the belief has 
prevailed that a catastrophe by fire awaited the earth, corre- 
sponding to, or rather the counterpart of, a previous destruc- 
tion by water. These catastrophes they denominated the 
cataclysm, or destruction by water, and the ecpyrosis, or 
destruction by fire. The ruin was supposed to be followed, 
in each case, by the regeneration of the earth in an improved 
form, which gradually deteriorated ; the first age after the 
catastrophe, constituting the golden age ; the next, the silver 
age ; and so on to the iron age, which preceded another cata- 
clysm, or ecpyrosis. The intervals between these convulsions 
were regarded as of various lengths, but all of them of great 
duration. 



384 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

These opinions the Greeks derived from the Egyptians. 

The belief in the future conflagration of the world also 
prevailed among the ancient Jews. Philo says that " the 
earth, after this purification, shall appear new again, even as 
it was after its first creation." — De Vita Mosis, torn. ii. — 
Among the Jews, these ideas may have been, in part, derived 
from the Old Testament ; though its language, as we have 
seen, is far less explicit on this subject than the New Testa- 
ment. That distinguished Christian writers, in all ages since 
the advent of Christ, have understood the language of Peter 
as we have explained it, would be easy to show. I have 
room, however, to quote only the opinions of a few distin- 
guished modern writers. 

Dr. Knapp, one of the most scientific and judicious of the- 
ologians, thus remarks upon the passage of Peter already 
examined : " It cannot be thought that what is here said re- 
specting the burning of the world is to be understood figura- 
tively, as Wettstein supposes ; because the fire is here too 
directly opposed to the literal water of the flood to be so 
understood. It is the object of Peter to refute the boast of 
scoffers, that all things had remained unchanged from the 
beginning, and that, therefore, no day of judgment and no 
end of the world could be expected. And so he says that 
originally, at the time of the creation, the whole earth was 
covered and overflowed with water, (Gen. i.,) and that from 
hence the dry land appeared ; and the same was true at the 
time of Noah's flood. But there is yet to come a great fire 
revolution. The heavens and the earth (the earth with its 
atmosphere) are reserved, or kept in store, for the fire, until 
the day of judgment, (v. 10.) At that time the heavens will 
pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dis- 
solved by fervent heat, and every thing upon the earth will 



dr. Chalmers's views. 385 

be burnt up. The same thing is taught in verse 12. But in 
verse 13 Peter gives the design of this revolution. It will not 
be annihilation, but we expect a new heavens and a new 
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, i. e., an entirely new, 
altered, and beautiful abode for man, to be built from the 
ruins of his former dwelling-place, as the future habitation of 
the pious, (Rev. xxi. 1.) This will be very much in the same 
way as a more perfect and an immortal body will be reared 
from the body which we now possess." — Tfieology, vol. ii. 
p. 649. 

From Dr. Chalmers my extracts will be longer than are 
necessary to show his opinion upon this subject, because he 
felicitously refutes certain erroneous ideas, widely prevalent, 
respecting matter and spirit. " We know historically," says 
he, " that earth, that a solid, material earth, may form the 
dwelling of sinless creatures, in full converse and friendship 
with the Being who made them." " Man, at the first, had for 
his place this world, and, at the same time, for his privilege 
an unclouded fellowship with God, and for his prospect an 
immortality, which death was neither to intercept nor put an 
end to. He was terrestrial in respect to condition, and yet 
celestial, both in respect of character and enjoyments. 

" The common imagination that we have of paradise on 
the other side of death, is that of a lofty aerial region, where 
the inmates float in ether, or are mysteriously suspended 
upon nothing; where all the warm and sensible accompani- 
ments, which give such an expression of strength, and life, 
and coloring to our present habitation, are attenuated into a 
sort of spiritual element, that is meagre and imperceptible, 
and utterly uninviting to the eye of mortals here below ; 
where every vestige of materialism is done away, and nothing 
left but certain unearthly scenes, that have no power of 
33 



386 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

allurement, and certain unearthly ecstasies with which it is 
felt impossible to sympathize. The holders of this imagina- 
tion forget all the while that there is no necessary connection 
between materialism and sin ; that the world which we now 
inhabit had all the solidity and amplitude of its present mate- 
rialism before sin entered into it ; that God, so far, on that 
account, from looking slightly upon it, after it had received 
the last touch of his creating hand, reviewed the earth, and 
the waters, and the firmament, and all the green herbage, 
with the living creatures, and the man whom he had raised in 
dominion over them, and he saw every thing that he had 
made, and behold, it was all very good. They forget that, on 
the birth of materialism, when it stood out in the freshness 
of those glories which the great Architect of nature had im- 
pressed upon it, that the morning stars sang together, and all 
the sons of God shouted for joy. They forget the appeals 
that are every where made in the Bible to his material work- 
manship, and how, from the face of these visible heavens, 
and the garniture of this earth which we tread upon, the 
greatness and goodness of God are reflected on the view of 
his worshippers. No, my brethren, the object of the admin- 
istration we sit under is to extirpate sin, but it is not to sweep 
away materialism. By the convulsions of the last day it may 
be shaken and broken down from its present arrangement, 
and thrown into such fitful agitations as that the whole of its 
existing framework shall fall to pieces ; and with a heat so 
fervent as to melt the most solid elements, may it be utterly 
dissolved. And thus may the earth again become without 
form and void, but without one particle of its substance going 
into annihilation. Out of the ruins of this second chaos may 
another heaven and another earth be made to arise, and a 
new materialism, with other aspects of magnificence and 



tholuck's views. 387 

beauty, emerge from the wreck of this mighty transforma- 
tion, and the world be peopled, as before, with the varieties of 
material loveliness, and space be again lighted up into a fir- 
mament of material splendor. 

" It is, indeed, a homage to that materialism, which many 
are for expunging from the future state of the universe alto- 
gether, that, ere the immaterial soul of man has reached the 
ultimate glory and blessedness designed for it, it must return 
and knock at the very grave where lie the mouldered remains 
of the body which it wore, and there inquisition must be 
made for the flesh, and the sinews, and the bones which the 
power of corruption has, perhaps centuries before, assimilated 
to the earth around them, and then the minute atoms must be 
reassembled into a structure that bears upon it the form, and 
lineaments, and general aspect of a man, and the soul 
passes into this material framework, which is hereafter to be 
its lodging-place forever ; and that not as its prison, but as its 
pleasant and befitting habitation ; not to be trammelled, as 
some would have it, in a hold of materialism, but to be 
therein equipped for the services of eternity ; to walk em- 
bodied among the bovvers of our second paradise ; to stand 
embodied in the presence of our God." 

" The glorification of the visible creation," says Tholuck, 
the distinguished German divine, " is more definitely declared 
in Rev. xxi. 1, although it must be borne in mind that a 
prophetic vision is there described. Still more definitely do 
we find the belief of a transformation of the material world 
declared in 2 Peter, iii. 7-12. The idea that the perfected 
kingdom of Christ is to be transferred to heaven, is properly 
a modern notion. According to Paul and the Revelation of 
John, the kingdom of God is placed upon the earth, in so far 
as this itself has part in the universal transformation. This 



388 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

exposition has been adopted and defended by most of the 
oldest commentators; e.g., Chrysostom, Theodoret, Hieron- 
ymus, Augustine, Luther, Koppe, and others. Luther says, 
in his lively way, ' God will make, not the earth only, but the 
heavens also, much more beautiful than they are at present. 
At present, we see the world in its working clothes ; but 
hereafter it will be arrayed in its Easter and Whitsuntide 
robes.' " 

"I cannot but feel astonishment," says Dr. John Pye 
Smith, " that any serious and intelligent man should have his 
mind fettered with the common, I might call it the vulgar, 
notion of a proper destruction of the earth ; and some seem 
to extend the notion to the whole solar system, and even the 
entire material universe ; applying the idea of an extinction 
of being, a reducing to nothingness. This notion has, in- 
deed, been often used to aid impassioned description in ser- 
mons and poetry ; and thus it has gained so strong a hold 
upon the feelings of many pious persons, that they have made 
it an article of their faith. But I confess myself unable to 
find any evidence for it in nature, reason, or Scripture. We 
can discover nothing like destruction in the matter of the 
universe as subjected to our senses. Masses are disintegrat- 
ed, forms are changed, compounds are decomposed ; but not 
an atom is annihilated. Neither have we the shadow of rea- 
son to assert that mind, the seat of intelligence, ever was, or 
ever will be, in a single instance, destroyed. The declaration 
in Scripture that the heavens and the earth shall flee away, and 
no more place be found for them, is undoubtedly figurative, 
and denotes the most momentous changes in the scenes of the 
divine moral government. If it be the purpose of God that 
the earth shall be subjected to a total conflagration, we per- 
fectly well know that the instruments of such an event lie 



dr. griffin's views. 389 

close at hand, and wait only the divine volition to burst out in 
a moment. But that would not be a destruction ; it would be 
a mere change of form, and, no doubt, would be subservient 
to the most glorious results. We, according to his promise, 
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth right- 
eousness" — Lectures on Geology and Revelation, p. 161, 
(4th London edition.) 

Says Dr. Griffin, one of the ablest of the American divines, 
" A question here arises, whether the new heavens and new 
earth will be created out of the ruins of the old ; that is, 
whether the old will be renovated and restored in a more 
glorious form, or whether the old will be annihilated, and the 
new made out of nothing. The idea of the annihilation of 
so many immense and glorious bodies, organized with inim- 
itable skill, and declarative of infinite wisdom, is gloomy and 
forbidding. Indeed, it is scarcely credible that God should 
annihilate any of his works, much less so many and so glori- 
ous works. It ought not to be believed without the most de- 
cisive proof. On the other hand, it is a most animating 
thought that this visible creation, which sin has marred, 
which the polluted breath of men and devils has defiled, and 
which by sin will be reduced to utter ruin, will be restored 
by our Jesus, will arise from its ruins in tenfold splendor, and 
shine with more illustrious glory than before it was defaced 
by sin. 

" After a laborious and anxious search on this interesting 
subject, I must pronounce the latter to be my decided opin- 
ion. And the same, I find, has been the more common opin- 
ion of the Christian fathers, of the divines of the reforma- 
tion, and of the critics and annotators who have since 
flourished. I could produce on this side a catalogue of 
names which would convince you that this has certainly been 
33* 



390 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

the common opinion of the Christian church in every age, as 
it was also of the Jewish. 

" The words which are employed to express the destruction 
of the world do not necessarily imply annihilation. Is it said 
that the world shall perish ? The same word is used to ex- 
press the ancient destruction of the world by the flood, when 
certainly it was not annihilated. Is it said that the world 
shall have an end, and be no more ? This may be under- 
stood only of the present form and organization of the visi- 
ble system ? Is it said that the heavens and the earth shall 
be dissolved by fire ? But the natural power of fire is not to 
annihilate, but only to dissolve the composition and change 
the form of substances." — Sermons, vol. ii. p. 450. 

We have now examined the most important testimony re- 
specting the future destruction and renovation of the earth ; 
for inspiration only can certainly determine its future condi- 
tion. But science may throw some light upon the changes 
through which it is to pass. And I now proceed to in- 
quire whether geology affords us any glimpses of its future 
condition. 

In the first place, geology shows us that the earth contains 
within itself all the agencies necessary for its future destruc- 
tion in the manner pointed out in the Bible. 

Some author has remarked that, from the earliest times, 
there has been a loud cry of fire. We have seen that it 
began with the ancient Egyptians, and was continued by the 
Greeks. But in recent times it has waxed louder and far 
more distinct. The ancient notions about the existence of 
fire within the earth were almost entirely conjectural, but 
within the present century the matter has been put to the test 
of experiment. Wherever, in Europe and America, the 
temperature of the air, the waters, and the rocks in deep 



INTERNAL FIRE. 391 

excavations has been ascertained, it has been found higher 
than the mean temperature of the climate at the surface ; 
and the experiment has been made in hundreds of places. It 
is found, too, that the heat increases rapidly as we descend 
below that point in the earth's crust to which the sun's heat 
extends. The mean rate of increase has been stated by the 
British Association to be one degree of Fahrenheit for every 
forty-five feet. At this rate, all known rocks would be melted 
at the depth of about sixty miles. Shall we hence conclude 
that all the matter of the globe below this thickness (or, 
rather, for the sake of round numbers, below one hundred 
miles) is actually in a melted state ? Most geologists have 
not seen how such a conclusion is to be avoided. And yet 
this would leave only about one eight hundredth part of the 
earth's diameter, and about one fourteenth of its contents, or 
bulk, in a solid state. How easy, then, should God give per- 
mission, for this vast internal fiery ocean to break through its 
envelope, and so to bury the solid crust that it should all be 
burnt up and melted ! It is conceivable that such a result 
might take place even by natural operations. And certainly 
it would be easy for a special divine agency to accomplish it. 
It may be thought, however, that the igneous fluidity of the 
internal part of the globe is too mighty and improbable a 
conclusion to be based upon the increase of temperature, ob- 
served only to the depth of two or three thousand feet. But 
this is not the only evidence of such a condition of the earth's 
interior. Three hundred active volcanoes, and still more 
numerous extinct ones, have opened their mouths and poured 
forth their molten contents frorn a great depth, to bear wit- 
ness to the existence of vast masses of melted rock beneath 
the earth's crust. The globe, too, is flattened at the poles, 
just to the amount it would be by rotation on its axis, had it 



392 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

been a liquid mass ; and, therefore, there is every probability 
that it was once liquid ; and if so once, its interior is proba- 
bly still so, because the period for cooling it, when once sur- 
rounded by a solid crust, must be incalculably long. That 
this solid crust has once been liquid from heat, is most obvi- 
ous to all who carefully examine it. For the unstratified 
rocks have certainly once been melted, and most of the 
stratified series were derived from the unstratified. Again, 
the organic remains dug out from the deep-seated strata 
prove that, when they were alive, the surface, even in high 
latitudes, must have been subject to a tropical, or even an 
ultra-tropical heat ; thus showing us that the temperature of 
the globe has gradually diminished, as we should expect from 
the theory of original igneous fluidity. And, finally, no other 
hypothesis but the gradual cooling of the earth's crust, and 
the powerful volcanic agency that must from time to time 
have torn and ridged up that crust, will account for the pres- 
ent fractured and overturned condition of the strata, and the 
elevation of our continent from the ocean's bed. But this 
supposition does most satisfactorily explain all these phenom- 
ena, and also those of earthquakes and volcanoes. 

I must acknowledge, however, that all these arguments 
fail of convincing a few geologists of the doctrine of 
internal igneous fluidity, to the extent above described. 
But they all admit that the facts do prove the existence of 
vast oceans of melted matter beneath the earth's crust. 
Nor do even these geologists doubt but the globe contains 
within itself the agencies requisite for a universal confla- 
gration. Mr. Lyell says that " there must exist below enor- 
mous masses of matter, intensely heated, and in many in- 
stances in a constant state of fusion." He says, also, " When 
we consider the combustible nature of the elements of the 



THE ELEMENTS OF CONFLAGRATION WITHIN. 393 

earth, so far as they are known to us, the facility with which 
their compounds may be decomposed and made to enter into 
new combinations, the quantity of heat which they evolve 
during those processes ; when we recollect the expansive 
power of steam, and that water itself is composed of two 
gases, which, by their union, produce intense heat ; when we 
call to mind the number of explosive and detonating com- 
pounds which have been already discovered, — we maybe 
allowed to share the astonishment of Pliny, that a single day 
should pass without a general conflagration. ' Excedit pro- 
fecto omnia miracula, ullum diem fuisse quo non cuncta 
conjlagrarent.'' " — Lyell's Principles of Geology, b. ii. chap. 
xx. vol. ii. 

" As a consequence of the refrigeration of the centre and 
crust of the globe," says D'Orbigny, " the withdrawment of 
matter has produced elevations and depressions on the consol- 
idated crust ; to which movements, in connection with those 
of the waters, we must impute the complete destruction of 
the existing fauna. These dislocations have brought about at 
each epoch changes of level in the consolidated beds and in 
the seas. And after a period of agitation, more or less pro- 
longed, after each of these geological revolutions, different 
beings have been created to cover anew and enliven the sur- 
face of the earth. — Cours Elementaire Palcontologie, p. 148. 

All geologists, then, agree that the elements of the earth's 
final conflagration are contained within its bosom or upon 
its surface. At present, these elements are so bound down 
by counteracting agencies, that all is quiet and security. But 
let the fiat of the Almighty go forth for their liberation, and 
the scenes of the last day, as described in the Bible, will 
commence. The ploughshare of ruin will be driven onward, 
until this fair world is all ingulfed, and no trace of organic 



394 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

life remains. Yet to him who realizes that the destruction is 
only a necessary preparation for a brighter world, which will 
emerge from the ruins of the present ; that, when the matter 
of the globe has been purified, its surface shall be covered 
with new and lovelier forms of beauty, surrounded by a still 
more bland and balmy atmosphere, and inhabited by sinless 
and immortal beings, — to him who realizes all this, the 
desolation will put on the aspect of a glorious transformation. 
In the second place, still deeper will be this impression, 
when we recollect that similar transmutations have already 
been experienced by the earth with an improvement of its 
condition. There is no evidence that the entire surface of 
the earth has ever undergone a complete fusion since organic 
life first appeared upon it. But we have reason to think that, 
frequently, at least, when one race of animals and plants has 
disappeared from the earth, it has been the result of violent 
catastrophes, proceeding from the elevation or subsidence of 
continents or chains of mountains. Says Agassiz, " A very 
remarkable, and perhaps the most surprising fact is, that the 
appearance of the chains of mountains, and the inequalities 
of the surface resulting from it, seem to have coincided gen- 
erally with the epochs. of the renewal of organized beings. — 
Ed. Journal of Science, Oct. 1842, p. 394. — These vertical 
movements of such large portions of the earth's crust could 
have resulted only from the direct or indirect agency of vol- 
canic power, though the destruction of organic life, which 
must have been the consequence, may have resulted as often 
from aqueous as igneous inundations. But usually both agen- 
cies were probably concerned, and the predominance of one 
or the other of these agencies is of little consequence to the 
argument ; for if such wide-spread ruin has already repeated- 
ly passed over the earth, a still wider desolation may be 



ANALOGY OF PAST CHANGES. 395 

presumed possible, if only a little wider play shall be given 
to the agents of destruction. Already have the changes of 
this sort which the earth, or portions of it, have undergone, 
resulted in an improved condition of its surface. In other 
words, at each successive epoch, animals and plants of a 
higher and more perfect organization have appeared, because 
the temperature, the air, and the earth's general condition 
have been better adapted to their happy existence. The 
amount of limestone seems to have been constantly increas- 
ing, and, as a consequence, the fertility of the soil ; probably, 
also, the amount of carbonic acid has diminished in the 
atmosphere, as animals with lungs have been multiplied. In 
short, there is a prodigious increase, among the present inhab- 
itants of the globe, of animals and plants possessing compli- 
cated and delicate organization and loftier intellectual powers, 
over all former conditions of the globe. But we have reason 
to believe, from the Christian Scriptures, that the next econo- 
my of life which shall be placed upon the globe will far 
transcend all those that have gone before. Every vestige of 
sin, suffering, decay, and death will disappear. Says the 
Bible, There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor cry- 
ing, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former 
things are passed away. And there shall in no wise enter 
it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomi- 
nation, or maketh a lie. In short, the change is no other 
than the conversion of this world into heaven. Reasonably, 
therefore, might we anticipate a most thorough destruction of 
the present world, to prepare the way for the introduction of 
such a glorious state. The Scriptures describe that state by 
the most splendid imagery that can be derived from existing 
nature. It is represented, figuratively, no doubt, as a splen- 
did city, prepared of God, and let down to the earth. Its 



396 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

twelve foundations are all precious stones, its gates pearls, its 
wall jasper, and its streets pure gold, as it were, transparent 
glass. The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the tem- 
ple of that city. Instead of the sun and the moon, the glory 
of God enlightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. From 
out of their throne proceeds the water of life, clear as crys- 
tal, and along its banks grows the tree of life, with its twelve 
manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. 

Here, then, we have the most splendid and enchanting 
objects in nature brought before us as representatives of the 
new heavens and the new earth. Yet we cannot learn from 
the Bible, or science, what material dress nature will then put 
on. We are taught only that it will far exceed, in splendor 
and perfection, the drapery which she now wears. We may 
be assured that it will be eminently adapted to a spirit that is 
henceforth to be perfectly holy, happy, incorruptible, and 
immortal. Both revelation and geology agree in assuring us 
that the new earth, which will emerge from the ruins of the 
present, will be improved in its condition ; but the particulars 
of that condition are not described — probably because we 
could not, in our present state, understand them. 

Such are the views concerning the earth's future destruc- 
tion and renovation, which appear to me to be taught by a fair 
interpretation of Scripture, and which harmonize with the 
teachings of geology. But we are met here by two formida- 
ble difficulties. In the first place, if the present earth is to be 
burnt up and melted at the last day, it must require thou- 
sands of years before another solid crust shall be formed upon 
its surface, capable of sustaining organic natures which are 
material. But the Bible represents the righteous, at the day 
of judgment, as reunited to their bodies, which they left in the 
grave, and entering at once into their residence upon the new 



OBJECTIONS. 397 

earth. Where, then, can we find the thousands of years which, 
by this theory, are essential to prepare this residence for their 
reception ? Into what intermediate place, what new Hades, 
shall they pass, until verdure shall clothe the new earth, and 
more than the primeval beauty of Eden take the place of the 
volcanic desolation which must reign over a world just begin- 
ning to cool from incandescent heat ? 

I freely acknowledge that this is a serious objection to my 
theory ; and perhaps it is insuperable, unless we resort to 
miraculous interference. It were easy to say, that God can, 
in a moment, convert a globe of fire into a paradise of beauty, 
and make its landscapes smile with charms transcending the 
bowers of paradise lost. Indeed, the Scriptures represent 
the New Jerusalem as prepared by God's own hands, and let 
down at once upon the earth to form the metropolitan abode 
of the righteous. 

But, after all, I am unwilling thus to dispose of the diffi- 
culty. For it is a clumsy way to meet objections, when we 
undertake to philosophize upon events, either past, present, 
or future, to foist in a miracle, in order to eke out our hy- 
pothesis. We thus make an image of as incoherent parts 
as that in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and as easily broken in 
pieces. 

There is a second mode by which the difficulty under con- 
sideration can be completely obviated, could we only admit 
the theory on which it rests. Some theological writers have 
maintained that the day of judgment will occupy a long pe- 
riod, — thousands and tens of thousands of years perhaps, — 
in order that every individual may experience a literal trial 
before the universe for all his conduct on earth, so that the 
conscience of every one in that vast assembly shall approve 
the final sentence. They appeal to various texts of Scripture, 
34 



398 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

where it is strongly stated that rigid inquisition will be made 
on that solemn day into the conduct and motives of every 
individual. And it may be, indeed, that such descriptions are 
to have a literal fulfilment ; and if so, we should have a pe- 
riod long enough for the new earth to be recovered by natural 
means from its volcanic desolation, and to be covered over 
with new forms of beauty. But I confess the theory of such 
a long period of judgment does not seem to me to be sus- 
tained by the most approved rules of exegesis, and therefore 
I am unwilling to rest upon it to sustain my own hypothesis. 

But is it not possible that our difficulty of conceiving how 
the spiritual body can enter at once upon its residence in the 
new heavens and earth, while yet the globe is only a shore- 
less ocean of fire, results from a mistaken conception of the 
nature of the spiritual body ? Do we not judge of it by our 
own present bodies, and imagine that it must necessarily pos- 
sess such an organization as would be destroyed by the ex- 
tremes of heat and cold ? And are we authorized to draw such 
an inference ? The Scriptures have, indeed, left us very 
much in the dark as to the specific nature of the future glo- 
rified body, which Paul calls a spiritual body. He does not 
mean that it is composed of spirit, for then it would not differ 
from the soul itself, by which it is to be animated. He cer- 
tainly means that it is composed of matter; unless, indeed, 
there be in the universe a third substance, distinct both from 
matter and spirit. But of the existence of such a substance we 
have no positive evidence ; and, therefore, must conclude the 
spiritual body to be matter ; called spiritual, probably, be- 
cause eminently adapted to form the immortal residence of 
pure spirit. 

Yet we learn from the apostle's description that it is not 
composed of flesh and blood, which, he says, cannot inherit 



THE LUMINIFEROUS ETHER. 

the kingdom of God ; neither is it capable of decay, like our 
present bodies. Indeed, the illustration which he derives from 
the decay and germination of a kernel of wheat shows us that 
the future body will be as much unlike the present as a stalk 
of wheat is different from the seed whence it sprang ; and, 
in appearance, scarcely any two things are more unlike. 
Hence we may suppose the resurrection body of the righteous 
to be as different from that which the soul now animates as 
matter can be, in its most diverse forms. 

Now, the question arises, Do we know of any form of mat- 
ter in the present world which remains the same at all tem- 
peratures, and in all circumstances, which no chemical or 
mechanical agencies can alter ? — a substance which remains 
unchanged in the very heart of the ice around the poles, and 
in the focus of a volcano ; which remains untouched by the 
most powerful reagents which the chemist can apply, and by 
the mightiest forces which the mechanician can bring to bear 
upon it ? It seems to me that modern science does render 
the existence of such a substance probable, though not cog- 
nizable by the senses. It is the luminiferous ether, that atten- 
uated medium by which light, and heat, and electricity are 
transmitted from one part of the universe to another, by undu- 
lations of inconceivable velocity. This strange fluid, whose 
existence and action seems all but demonstrated by the phe- 
nomena of light, heat, and electricity, and perhaps, too, by the 
resistance experienced by Encke's, Biela's, and Halley's 
comets, must possess the extraordinary characteristic above 
pointed out. It must exist and act wherever we find light, 
heat, or electricity ; and where do we not find them ? They 
penetrate through what has been called empty space ; and, 
therefore, this ether exists there, propagating its undulations 
at the astonishing rate of two hundred thousand miles per 



400 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

second. They emanate in constant succession from every 
intensely heated focus, such as the sun, the volcano, and the 
chemical furnace ; and, therefore, this strange medium is 
neither dissipated nor affected by the strongest known heat. 
Both light and heat are transmitted through ice ; and, there- 
fore, this ether cannot be congealed. The same is true of 
glass, and every transparent substance, however dense ; and 
even the most solid metals convey heat and electricity with 
remarkable facility ; and, therefore, this ether exists and acts 
with equal facility in the most solid masses as in a vacuum. 
In short, it seems to be independent of chemical or mechani- 
cal changes, and to act unobstructed in all possible modifica- 
tions of matter. And, though too evanescent to be cognizable 
by the senses, or the most delicate chemical and mechanical 
tests, it possesses, nevertheless, a most astonishing activity. 

Now, I am not going to assert that the spiritual body will 
be composed of this luminiferous ether. But, since we know 
not the composition of that body, it is lawful to suppose that 
such may be its constitution. This is surely possible, and 
that is all which is essential to my present argument. 

Admitting its truth, the following interesting conclusions 
follow : — 

In the first place, the spiritual body would be unaffected by 
all possible changes of temperature. It might exist as well 
in the midst of fire, or of ice, as in any intermediate tempera- 
ture. Hence it might pass from one extreme of temperature 
to another, and be at home in them all ; and this is what we 
might hope for in a future world. Some, indeed, have imagined 
that the sun will be the future heaven of the righteous ; and on 
this supposition there is no absurdity in the theory. Nor 
would there be in the hypothesis which should locate heaven 
in solid ice, or in the centre of the earth. 



INFERENCES. 401 

In the second place, on this supposition, the spiritual body- 
would be unharmed by those chemical and mechanical agen- 
cies which matter in no other form can resist. 

The question has often arisen, how the glorified body, if 
material, would be able to escape all sources of injury, so 
as to be immortal as the soul. In this hypothesis, we see how 
it is possible ; for though the whole globe should change its 
chemical constitution, though worlds should dash upon worlds, 
the spiritual body, though present at the very point where the 
terrible collision took place, would feel no injury ; and safe 
in its immortal habitation, the soul might smile amid " the 
wreck of matter and the crush of worlds." 

In the third place, on this supposition, the soul might com- 
municate its thoughts and receive a knowledge of events and 
of other minds, through distances inconceivably great, with 
the speed of lightning. If we suppose the soul, in such a ten- 
ement, could transmit its thoughts and desires, and receive 
impressions, through the luminiferous ether, with only the same 
velocity as light, it might communicate with other beings upon 
the sun, at the distance of one hundred million miles, in eight 
minutes ; and such a power we may reasonably expect the 
soul will hereafter possess, whether derived from this or some 
other agency. We cannot believe that, in another world, the 
soul's communication with the rest of the universe will be as 
limited as in the present state. On this supposition, she need 
not wander through the universe to learn the events transpir- 
ing in other spheres, for the intelligence would be borne on 
the morning's ray o- the lightning's wing. 

Finally, on this supposition, the germ of the future spiritual 
body may, even in this world, be attached to the soul ; and it 
may be this which she will come seeking after on the resur- 
rection morning. 

34* 



402 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

I know not but this wonderful medium, in some unknown 
form, may attach itself to the sleeping dust ; and though that 
dust be scattered upon the winds, or diffused in the waters of 
the ocean, and transformed into other animal bodies, still that 
germ may not be lost. The chemist has often been per- 
plexed, when he thinks how the bodies of men are decom- 
posed after death, and how every particle must, in some cases, 
pass into other bodies ; he has been perplexed, I say, to see 
how the resurrection body should be identified, and especially 
how those particles could become a part of different bodies. 
Perhaps the hypothesis under consideration may relieve the 
difficulty. Perhaps, too, it may teach us how the soul exists 
and acts, when separated from the body. It may act through 
this universal medium, though in a manner less perfect than 
after it has united itself to the spiritual body raised from the 
grave.* 

But I fear I am venturing too far into the region of conjec- 
ture. My only object is, to show that we do know of a sub- 
stance which might form a spiritual body which should be in 
its element upon the new earth, even though it were in the 
condition of a fiery ocean. It could not, indeed, be an or- 
ganic body of such a kind as heat would destroy ; though I 
see no reason why it may not possess an organism far more 
delicate and wonderful than that of our present bodies, and 
yet be unaffected by heat or cold, or mechanical or chemical 
agencies. I do not feel, therefore, that the objection which I 
am considering is insuperable. It results, I apprehend, from 

* This subject has been treated more fully, and I hope more satis- 
factorily, in a little work of mine, which has just reached its second 
edition, entitled Religious Lectures on Peculiar Phenomena in the 
Four Seasons, (Amherst, 1851.) See the first Lecture, on the Resur- 
rections of Spring. 



MESMERISM. 403 

the false assumption that the spiritual body will be subject to 
those influences by which our present comparatively gross 
bodies are so powerfully affected. 

Shall 1 be pardoned if I say that, in the experiments of an 
incipient and maltreated science, we have, perhaps, a glimpse 
of the manner in which the soul will act in the future spiritual 
body ? for if those experiments be not all delusion, — and how 
can we reasonably infer that experiments so multiplied, so 
various, and in many cases, when not in the hands of itiner- 
ant jugglers, so fairly performed, — I say, how can we re- 
gard all these as mere trickery ? and if not, they are best 
explained by supposing the soul to act independently of the 
bodily organs, and through the same medium which we have 
supposed to constitute the future spiritual body. In this view, 
mesmerism assumes a most interesting aspect, forming, as 
it were, a link between the present and the future world. 
The theory which I have advanced does not, indeed, fall to 
the ground, though mesmerism should be found a delusion ; 
yet it is but justice to say, that it first came under my eye 
in that most classical, philosophical, and attractive work, 
Townsend's " Facts in Mesmerism." A similar view, how- 
ever, was presented several years earlier, in a work by Isaac 
Taylor, no less ingenious and profound, the " Physical The- 
ory of Another Life," a work, however, which makes not the 
slightest allusion to mesmerism. The author supposes such 
a state of things as I have imagined in another life to be in ex- 
istence even now. " The sensation of light," says he, " is now 
believed to result from the vibrations, not the emanations, of 
an elastic fluid, or ether ; but this same element may be ca- 
pable of another species of vibrations ; or the electric or the 
magnetic fluids may be susceptible of some such vibrations ; 
or an element as universally diffused as light through the 



404 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

universe may be the medium of sonorous undulations, equally 
rapid and distinct, and serving to connect the most remote 
regions of the universe by the conveyance of sounds, just as 
the most remote are actually connected by the passage of light. 
Yet the sonorous vibrations of this supposed element may be 
far too delicate to awaken the ear of man, or, in fact, of a 
kind not perceptible by the human auditory nerve." c< We 
refuse to allow that a conjecture of this sort is extravagant, 
or destitute of philosophical probability ; on the contrary, 
consider it as borne out, in a positive sense, by the discoveries 
of modern science. Might we then rest for a moment upon 
an animating conception (aided by the actual analogy of light) 
such as this, viz., that the field of the visible universe is the 
theatre of a vast social economy, holding rational intercourse 
at great distances ? Let us claim leave to indulge the belief, 
when we contemplate the starry heavens, that speech, in- 
quiry and response, commands and petitions, debate and 
instruction, are passing to and fro ; or shall the imagination 
catch the pealing anthems of praise, at stated seasons, arising 
from worshippers in all quarters, and flowing on with thun- 
dering power, like the noise of many waters, until it meet and 
shake the courts of the central heavens ? " — Physical Theory 
of Another Life, p. 202, 3d Am. ed. 

The second objection to the view which I have presented 
of the future destruction and renovation of the earth, as an 
abode of the righteous, may be thus stated : Heaven is an 
unchanging state ; but a world which has been burned up and 
melted, even if we might suppose spiritual beings to dwell 
upon it, must undergo still further chaiige. The radiation of 
its heat would form a crust over its surface ; the waters, dis- 
sipated into vapor, would be recondensed ; volcanic agency 
would ridge up the crust into mountains and valleys ; and, in 



SECOND OBJECTION. 405 

short, geological agencies would at length form such a sur- 
face, so far as rocks and soil are concerned, as we now 
tread upon. And even though organic beings should not be 
again placed upon it, those changes would proceed, till, per- 
haps, another and another great catastrophe by fire might pass 
over it ; nor can we say where these mutations would end. 
Can we believe such a world to be heaven ? 

Here, again, as in the last objection, it appears to me, the 
main difficulty lies in our judging of the future spiritual body 
by that organism which we now inhabit. Heaven is, indeed, 
an unchanging state of happiness and holiness. But does it, 
therefore, follow that there can be no change in its material 
form and aspect ? I have already shown that the spiritual 
body may be of such a composition that no change of tem- 
perature, of place or constitution, in surrounding bodies, can 
at all affect it. If the soul could be happy in one set of 
physical circumstances while in such a tenement, it might 
be happy in any other circumstances with which we are ac- 
quainted. But it does not follow that the happiness of the 
soul might not be increased by the changes of the material 
world around it. What is it on earth that affords the greatest 
amount of happiness derived from the external world ? It is 
the immense variety of creation, produced chiefly by chemi- 
cal and mechanical agencies. These changes afford us the 
most striking exhibitions of the wisdom, power, and benevo- 
lence of the Deity, within our knowledge ; and why may not 
analogous, or still more wonderful changes, and greater variety, 
give still higher conceptions of the divine character to the 
inhabitants of heaven, and excite a purer and a stronger love ? 
And to study that character will form, I doubt not, the grand 
employment of heaven. Who can tell what depths of knowl- 
edge may there be laid open into the internal constitution of 



406 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

matter, and its combinations, and especially its union with 
spirit ! And what surer means of bringing out these devel- 
opments than change, constant and everlasting change ? For 
who can set limits to those mutations which an infinite God 
can produce upon the matter of this vast universe ? It is easy 
to see that they may be literally infinite. 

Once more. We have seen that the geological changes 
which our world has hitherto undergone have been an im- 
provement of its condition, and that each successive econ- 
omy has been a brighter exhibition of divine wisdom and 
benevolence. Shall this progress be arrested when the present 
economy closes ? We know that the righteous will forever 
advance in holiness and happiness. Why may not a part of 
that increase depend upon their introduction into higher and 
higher economies through eternal ages ? May not this be 
one of the modes in which new developments of the character 
of God will open upon them in the world of bliss ? 

The Scriptures represent the material aspect of the new 
heavens and the new earth, when first the righteous enter 
upon them, to be one of surpassing glory. But why may not 
other developments await them in the round of eternal ages, 
as their expanding faculties are able to understand and appre- 
ciate them ? 

The greater the variety of new scenes in the material world 
which shall be presented to the mind, such as an infinite Deity 
shall devise, the more intense the happiness of their contem- 
plations; and who can set limits to the permutations which 
such a being can produce, even upon matter ? I can form 
no conjecture as to the nature of those new developments ; 
nor do I believe they could be understood in our present state. 
I feel as if those formed too low an estimate of the new heav- 
ens and the new earth, who imagine a repetition there of the 



SCENES OF THE NEW EARTH. 407 

most curious organic structures, the most splendid flowers and 
fruits, and the most enchanting landscapes of the present 
world. I fancy that scenes far more enchanting, and objects 
far more glorious, will meet the soul at its first entrance upon 
the new earth, even though to mortal vision it should present 
only an ocean of fire. I imagine a thousand new inlets into 
the soul — nay, I think of it as all eye, all ear, all sensation ; 
now plunging deeper into the infinitesimal parts of matter 
than the microscope can carry us, and now soaring away, 
perhaps on the waves of the mysterious ether, far beyond the 
ken of the telescope. And if such is the first entrance into 
heaven, who can conjecture what new fields and new glories 
shall open before the mind, and fill it with ecstasy, as it flies 
onward without end ! But I dare not indulge further in these 
hypothetical, yet fascinating thoughts ; yet let us never for- 
get, that in a very short time, far shorter than we imagine, 
all the scenes of futurity will be to us a thrilling reality. We 
shall then know in a moment how much of truth there is in 
these speculations. But if they all prove false, fully confi- 
dent am I that the scenes which will open upon us will sur- 
pass our liveliest conceptions. The glass through which we 
now see darkly will be removed, and face to face shall we 
meet eternal glories. Then shall we learn that our present 
bodily organs, however admirably adapted to our condition 
here, were in fact clogs upon the^ soul, intended to fetter its 
free range, that we might the more richly enjoy the liberty 
of the sons of God, and expatiate in the spiritual body, the 
building of God, the house not made with hands, eternal in 
the heavens. 

Let us, then, live continually under the influence of the 
scenes that await us beyond the grave. They will thus be- 
come familiar to us. and we shall appreciate their infinite 



408 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 

superiority to the objects that so deeply interest us on earth. 
We shall be led to look forward even with strong desire, in 
spite of the repulsive aspect of death, to that state where the 
soul will be freed from her prison-house of flesh and blood, 
and can range in untiring freedom through the boundless 
fields of knowledge and happiness that are in prospect. Then 
shall we learn to despise the low aims and contracted views 
of the sensualist, the demagogue, and the worldling. High 
and noble thoughts and aspirations will lift our souls above 
the murky atmosphere of this world, and, while yet in the 
body, we shall begin to breathe the empyreal air of the new 
heavens, and to gather the fruits of the tree of life in the new 
earth, where righteousness only shall forever dwell. 



(409) 



LECTURE XII. 
THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

In order to impress some important truth or transaction, 
men have sometimes represented surrounding inanimate ob- 
jects as looking on and witnessing the scene, or listening to 
the words, and ready ever afterwards to open their mouth to 
testify to the facts, should man deny them. I know of no 
writings from which to derive so striking an illustration of 
these strong figurative representations as the sacred Scriptures. 

Take, for a first example, the solemn covenant entered into 
between Jehovah and the Israelites, in the time of Joshua. 
To fix the transaction as firmly as possible in the minds of 
the fickle people, he took a great stone and set it up there 
under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And 
Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a 
witness unto us. For it hath heard all the words of the 
Lord which he spake unto us. It shall, therefore, be a witness 
unto you, lest ye deny your God. 

In a second example, the prophet Habakkuk describes the 
insatiable wickedness of the Chaldeans ; and addressing the 
nation as an individual, he says, Thou hast consulted shame to 
thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against 
thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the 
beam out of the timber shall answer it. Such abominations 
had aroused even the most insensible part of creation, the 
very timber and the stone, to life and indignation. 
35 



410 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OP THE UNIVERSE. 

In a third example, the whole multitude of Jews had just 
spread their garments upon the ground for Christ to ride over, 
they meanwhile crying out, Blessed be the King that cometh 
in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the 
highest. But some of the Pharisees said, Master, rebuke 
thy disciples ; and he answered and said unto them, If these 
should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry 
out. If man refused to do homage to the King of glory, 
when he came among them, the rocks, more sensible, would 
break forth in his praises. 

The discoveries of modern science, however, show us that 
there is a literal sense in which the material creation receives 
an impression from all our words and actions that can never 
be effaced ; and that nature, through all time, is ever ready to 
bear testimony of what we have said and done. Men fancy 
that the wave of oblivion passes over the greater part of their 
actions. But physical science shows us that those actions 
have been transfused into the very texture of the universe, so 
that no waters can wash them out, and no erosions, comminu- 
tion, or metamorphoses, can obliterate them. 

The principle which I advance in its naked form is this : 
Our words, our actions, and even our thoughts, make an indel- 
ible impression on the universe. Thrown into a poetic form, 
this principle converts creation 

Into a vast sounding gallery ; 
Into a vast picture gallery ; 
And into a universal telegraph. 

This proposition I shall endeavor to sustain by an appeal to 
well-established principles of science. Yet, since some of 
these principles are not the most common and familiar, and 
have not been applied, except in part, to this subject, I must 



MECHANICAL REACTION. 411 

be more technical in their explanation than I could wish, and 
more minute in the details. 

The grand point, however, on which the whole subject turns, 
is the doctrine of reaction. By this is meant the mutual or re- 
ciprocal action of different things upon one another. Thus, if 
a body fall to the earth, the earth reacts upon it, and stops it, 
or throws it back. If sulphuric acid be poured upon limestone, 
a mutual action ensues ; the acid acts on the stone, and the 
stone reacts upon the acid, and a new compound is produced. 
If light fall upon a solid body, the body reacts upon the light, 
which it sends back to the eye with an image of itself. These 
are examples of what is meant by reaction, or the reciprocal 
action of different substances upon one another. But it is not 
every kind of reaction that will prove a permanent impression 
to be made upon the universe by our conduct. Hence we 
must be more specific. 

In the first place, the principle is proved and illustrated 
by the doctrine of mechanical reaction. 

From the principle, long since settled in mechanics, that 
action and reaction are equal, it will follow that every impres- 
sion which man makes by his words, or his movements, upon 
the air, the waters, or the solid earth, will produce a series of 
changes in each of those elements which will never end. 
The word which is now going out of my mouth causes pulsa- 
tions or waves in the air, and these, though invisible to human 
eyes, expand in every direction until they have passed around 
the whole globe, and produced a change in the whole atmos- 
phere ; nor will a single circumgyration complete the effect ; 
but the sentence which I am now uttering shall alter the whole 
atmosphere through all future time. So that, as Professor 
Babbage remarks, to whom we are indebted for the first moral 
application of this mechanical principle, " the air is one vast 



412 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

library, on whose pages are forever written all that man has 
ever said, or woman whispered," Not a word has ever 
escaped from mortal lips, whether for the defence of virtue 
or the perversion of the truth, not a cry of agony has ever 
been uttered by the oppressed, not a mandate of cruelty by 
the oppressor, not a false and nattering word by the deceiver, 
but it is registered indelibly upon the atmosphere we breathe. 
And could man command the mathematics of superior minds, 
every particle of air thus set in motion could be traced 
through all its changes, with as much precision as the astron- 
omer can point out the path of the heavenly bodies. No 
matter how many storms have raised the atmosphere into 
wild commotion, and whirled it into countless forms ; no mat- 
ter how many conflicting waves have mixed and crossed one 
another ; the path of each pulsation is definite, and subject to 
the laws of mathematics. To follow it requires, indeed, a 
power of analysis superior to human ; but we can conceive it 
to be far inferior to the divine. 

The same thing is true of the waters. No wave has ever 
been raised on their bosom, no keel has ever ploughed their 
surface, which has not sent an influence and a change into 
every ocean, and modified every wave, that has rolled in 
upon the farthest shores. As the vessel crosses the deep, the 
parted waves close in, and every trace of disturbance soon 
disappears from human vision. Nevertheless, it is certain 
that every track thus furrowed in the waters has sent an influ- 
ence through their entire mass, such as is calculable by dis- 
tinct formulae ; and it may be that glorified minds, by the 
principles of celestial mathematics, can as easily trace out 
the paths of the unnumbered vessels that have crossed the 
waters, as the astronomer can the paths of the planets or 
the comets. 



PROFESSOR BABBAGE. 413 

The solid earth, too, is alike tenacious of every impression 
we make upon it ; not a footprint of man or beast is marked 
upon its surface, that does not permanently change the whole 
globe. Every one of its countless atoms will retain and ex- 
hibit an infinitesimal, but a real, effect through all coming 
time. It is too minute, indeed, for the cognizance of the hu- 
man senses. But in a higher sphere there may be inlets of 
perception acute enough to trace it through all its bearings, 
and thus render every atom of the globe a living witness to 
the actions of every living being. 

In view of these facts, we cannot regard the glowing lan- 
guage of Babbage an exaggeration, when he says, " The soul 
of the negro, whose fettered body, surviving the living char- 
nel-house of his infected prison, was thrown into the sea to 
lighten the ship, that his Christian master might escape the 
limited justice at length assigned by civilized man to crimes 
whose profit had long gilded their atrocity, will need, at the 
last great day of human accounts, no living witness of his 
earthly agony : when man and all his race shall have disap- 
peared from the face of our planet, ask every particle of air 
still floating over the unpeopled earth, and it will record the cruel 
mandate of the tyrant. Interrogate every wave which breaks 
unimpeded on ten thousand desolate shores, and it will give 
evidence of the' last gurgle of the waters which closed over 
the head of his dying victim. Confront the murderer with 
every corporeal atom of his immolated slave, and in its still 
quivering movements he will read the prophet's denunciation 
of the prophet king." 

The distinguished mathematical professor from whom I 
have just quoted limits the effects of this mathematical reac- 
tion to this globe and its atmosphere. But if, as the philoso- 
phers now generally admit, there is a subtile and extremely 
3&* 



414 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

elastic medium pervading all space, why must they not ex- 
tend to other worlds, yea, to the whole universe? Without 
an accurate acquaintance with the facts, indeed, it will seem 
a mere extravagant imagination to say that our most trivial 
word or action sends a thrill throughout the whole material 
universe ; but I see not why sober and legitimate science does 
not conduct us to this conclusion. Nay, still further, it 
teaches us that the vibrations and changes which our words 
and actions produce upon the universe shall never cease their 
action and reaction till materialism be no more. 

We venture, then, to push this thought of the ingenious 
mathematician into another sphere, which he did not enter. 
The majority, probably, of the ablest expounders of the 
Bible have maintained, as previously shown, that the apostle 
Peter most unequivocally teaches us that the new heavens, or 
atmosphere, and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous- 
ness, are merely our present earth and atmosphere, melted 
and burnt by the fires of the last day, and fitted up anew, — 
a second and a lovelier paradise, — to be the everlasting abode 
of holiness and happiness. Indeed, to attempt to fix any 
other meaning upon Peter's language makes of it a most ab- 
surd jumble of literal and figurative expressions, and produces 
an inversion of. chronological events. But, admitting the lit- 
eral meaning of the apostle to be the true one, then those 
reactions, produced by our words and conduct upon the pres- 
ent world, shall not be destroyed by the fires of the last day, 
but reappear in the new economy, and modify the pulsations 
of the new heavens and the new earth through all eternity. 

But even though heaven should be in some other part of 
the universe, and not this earth refitted, yet, if it be a mate- 
rial residence, why, on the principles already explained, 
should it not be reached and affected by those vibrations 



WILL EXTEND TO THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 415 

which the laws of mathematics assure us are now spreading 
from each individual, as a centre, through the whole uni- 
verse ? The conflagration of the earth will alter its chemical 
constitution, and convert matter into new forms ; but the 
mechanical character of the atoms will not be destroyed ; 
and when they emerge from the final catastrophe, in new and 
brighter forms, they may still bear and exhibit the impress 
of every word and every action which they now receive. 

Such representations as these, I am aware, will, upon first 
thought, seem to most minds little better than the dreams of 
fancy, although founded upon the laws of mathematics. For 
Dow soon does every trace disappear from the earth of the 
most terrible convulsions and the mightiest human efforts ! 
The shout of countless multitudes, the thunder and the crash 
of battle, and even the volcano's bellowing, are soon suc- 
ceeded by unbroken silence ; and we cannot discover a trace 
of any of those countless scenes of noise and convulsion that 
have been acted upon the world's busy stage. How prac- 
tically absurd, then, to imagine that any influence goes out 
from the feeble efforts of individuals, that can be recognized, 
either now or hereafter, on the wide field of the universe ! 

Such objections as these, however, are based upon the im- 
pression, of which it is hard to divest ourselves, that our 
present means of distinguishing the effects of physical forces 
are as perfect as we can hope for in eternity. And yet, who 
will doubt that, when our present gross bodies shall be laid 
aside, the soul, looking forth from a spiritual body, with 
quickened powers and unobstructed vision, shall penetrate a 
new world in the infinitesimal parts of creation ? What ab- 
surdity in the supposition that then the minutest movement 
among the atoms, which can now be discovered only by the 
mathematics of quantities infinitely small, may then stand out 



416 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

as distinctly to our inspection as do now the features of the 
landscape ? What absurdity in the supposition that, even 
now, there are finite minds in the universe who possess this 
quickened power of perception, and, though in distant worlds, 
do actually know what is passing here by the vibrations 
which our words and actions produce upon elastic matter ? 

Thus far I have spoken of the influence of our words and 
actions only upon the material universe, although the princi- 
ple with which I started includes thoughts also. But are not 
actions merely the external manifestation of thoughts and 
purposes ? and, therefore, is not thought the efficient agency 
that impresses the universe ? I shall also attempt to show 
that there are other modes in which the intellect may do this, 
aside from ordinary words and actions. 

But I proceed to the second proof of the general principle. 
And I derive it from what may he called optical reactions ; 
that is, the reaction of light and the substances on which it 
impinges. These exert such an influence upon it, that, when 
it is thrown back from them, and enters the organs of vision, 
or even a transparent lens, with a screen behind it, it pro- 
duces an image of those objects ; in other words, what we 
call vision. 

Now, it is this fact, in connection with the progressive mo- 
tion of light, that forms the basis of this branch of the argu- 
ment. Though light moves with such immense velocity, that, 
for all practical purposes on earth, it is instantaneous, yet, in 
fact, it does occupy a little more than a second for every two 
hundred thousand miles which it passes over. Hence a flash 
of lightning occurring on earth would not be visible on the 
moon till a second and a quarter afterwards ; on the sun, till 
eight minutes ; at the planet Jupiter, when at its greatest dis- 
tance from us, till fifty-two minutes ; on Uranus, till two 



OPTICAL REACTIONS. 417 

hours ; on Neptune, till four hours and a quarter ; on the star 
of Vega, of the first magnitude, till forty-five years ; on a 
star of the eighth magnitude, till one hundred and eighty 
years ; and on a star of the twelfth magnitude, till four thou- 
sand years ; and stars of this magnitude are visible through 
telescopes ; m N r can we doubt that, with better instruments, 
stars r€ far lest magnitude might be seen ; so that we may 
confidently say that this flash of lightning would not reach 
the remotest heavenly body till more than six thousand 
years — a period equal to that which has elapsed since man's 
creation. 

Now, suppose that, on these different heavenly bodies, 
beings exist with organs of vision sufficiently acute to discern 
a flash of lightning on earth, or, rather, to see all the scenes 
on that hemisphere of our world that is turned towards them ; 
it is obvious that, on the remotest star, the earth would be 
seen, at this moment, just coming forth from the Creator's 
hand, in all the freshness of Eden's glories, with our first 
parents in the beauty of innocence and happiness, and all the 
beasts of the field and the fowls of the air playing around 
them. On a star of the twelfth magnitude would be seen 
the world as it showed itself four thousand years ago ; on a 
star of the eighth magnitude, as it appeared one hundred and 
eighty years ago ; and so on to the moon, where would be 
seen the occurrences of the present moment. And since 
ther,e are ten thousand times ten thousand worlds, scattered 
through these extremes of distance, is it not clear that, taking 
them all together, they do at this moment contain a vast pan- 
orama of the world's entire history, since the hour when the 
morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for 
joy on creation's morning ? 

' Thus," says the unknown author of a little work entitled 



418 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

" The Stars and the Earth," in which these ideas were first 
developed — thus the universe encloses the pictures of the 
past, like an indestructible and incorruptible record, contain- 
ing the purest and the clearest truth ; and as sound propa- 
gates itself in the air, wave after wave, or, to take a still clearer 
example, as thunder and lightning are in reality simultaneous, 
but in the storm the distant thunder follows at the interval of 
minutes [seconds?] after the flash, so, in like manner, ac- 
cording to our ideas, the pictures of every occurrence propa- 
gate themselves into the distant ether, upon the wings of the 
ray of light ; and although they become weaker and smaller, 
yet, in immeasurable distance, they still have color and form ; 
and as every thing possessing color and form is visible, so 
must these pictures also be said to be visible, however im- 
possible it may be for the human eye to perceive it with the 
hitherto discovered optical instruments." 

This last statement of the writer every one will acknowledge 
is true when applied to God ; for who will doubt that his eye 
can take in at a glance that universe which he has made ? 
And to do that is to have before him the entire daily history 
of our globe ; nay, probably, also, of every other world. 
Indeed, such a supposition affords us a lively conception of 
the divine omniscience, since we have only to suppose this 
panorama of the indefinite past to extend indefinitely into the 
future, and the infinite picture will also be present at this 
moment before the divine mind. 

But is the supposition an absurdity, that there may be in 
the universe created beings, with powers of vision acute 
enough to take in all these pictures of our world's history, as 
they make the circuit of the numberless suns and planets that 
lie embosomed in boundless space ? Suppose such a being 
at this moment upon a star of the twelfth magnitude, with an 



HITMAN HISTORY READ BY OTHER BEINGS. 419 

eye turned toward the earth. He might see the deluge of 
Noah, just sweeping over the surface. Advancing to a nearer 
star, he would see the patriarch Abraham going out, not 
knowing whither he went. Coming still nearer, the vision of 
the crucified Redeemer would meet his gaze. Coming nearer 
still, he might alight upon worlds where all the revolutions 
and convulsions of modern times would fall upon his eye. 
Indeed, there are worlds enough and at the right distances, 
in the vast empyrean, to show him every event in human 
history. 

We may proceed a step farther, and inquire whether such 
an exaltation of vision as we have supposed may not be here- 
after enjoyed by the glorified human mind when it passes into 
the spiritual body. We can hardly believe such a transfor- 
mation possible. But suppose an individual born blind to 
grow up to manhood and intelligence without ever having 
been told any thing about vision. Then suppose the oculist 
to attempt an operation for the restoration of his sight, and, to 
prepare him for the transition, let the wonders of human vision 
be described to him, and he be told that, by a few moments 
of suffering, he can be put in possession of this astonishing 
faculty ; would it not appear as improbable to him as it now 
does to us, to imagine that our vision can be so clarified and 
exalted, that we can discern the events which are passing in 
distant worlds as easily as we now do those immediately 
around us. 

But if such a power of reading human history, from its 
panorama spread out on the face of the universe, be now pos- 
sessed by unfallen beings in other spheres, what idea must 
they form of the character of man ?, At one time, they must 
regard the race as given up to hopeless rebellion, and the 
inflictions of vindictive justice. And then, anon, they would 



420 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

see the sceptre of mercy stretched out, and a few faithful 
soldiers marching under the banner of virtue and fighting the 
battles of the Lord. Surely they would need a revelation to 
understand the anomalies and solve the paradoxes which 
passed under their eyes. They would wonder why a world 
so filled with tokens of divine goodness, yet so disfigured by 
wickedness in every form, had not long since been struck 
from its orbit by the hand of divine justice. 

Thus far, in the present argument, I have been following, 
for the most part, in the track marked out by others. But I 
now venture to advance into regions hitherto untrodden for 
any such purpose ; yet T trust that the light which we may find 
to guide our steps may not prove the bewildering gleam of 
an ignis fatuus, but the lamp of true science. 

My third argument is based upon electric reactions. 

Whatever may be the true nature of electricity, it is con- 
venient, and probably leads to no error, to speak of it as a 
fluid, or rather two fluids. For we find two kinds of electricity, 
denominated positive and negative ; and it is a general fact, 
that, when a body is brought into one electrical state, it throws 
other bodies around it into the opposite state, by a power called 
induction. Those bodies, whose electrical condition has been 
thus altered, will act on others lying in a remoter circle, and 
these upon others, and so on, we cannot tell how widely, for 
we have reason to suppose that electricity is a power that 
extends through all nature. It can hardly be doubted that it 
is the force which constitutes what we call chemical affinity, 
by which the constituent parts of all compound bodies are 
held together ; and in those stony and metallic masses, that 
occasionally fall from the heavens, we have proof that this 
same power holds sway in other worlds ; for the most reason- 
able supposition is, that these meteors move like the planets 



ELECTRIC REACTIONS. 421 

through the regions of celestial space, and give us some idea 
of the constitution of planetary worlds. If so, the same chem- 
ical laws, and, of course, the same chemical forces, prevail 
there as in our planet. Indeed, the uniformity of nature would 
lead us to such a conclusion were there no facts like those of 
meteors to teach it directly. It follows, from these princi- 
ples, that, whenever we change the electrical condition of 
bodies around us, we start a movement to whose onward 
march we can assign no limits but the material universe. 
These waves of influence consist of a series of attractions and 
repulsions, and are independent of the mechanical reactions 
already considered, which are produced by onward impulses 
alone. 

Now, a change in the electric condition of bodies is pro- 
duced often by the slightest mechanical, chemical, thermal, 
physiological, and probably even mental change in man. The 
usual way of exciting currents of electricity is by friction. 
But chemical action, as in the galvanic battery, produces a 
still more energetic and uninterrupted current. The slightest 
change of temperature, also, may disturb the electric equi- 
librium perceptibly. It has been of late ascertained, likewise, 
that a change of physiological condition — that is, a change as 
to healthy and normal action — affects the electricity of the 
parts of the system, and consequently of surrounding bodies. 
Substitute a man in the place of a galvanic battery, making 
his two hands the electrodes, and there will go out from him 
an electric current, that shall sensibly deflect the needle of a 
galvanometer, an instrument employed for showing the pres- 
ence of small portions of electricity. 

Nay, further, it seems to be most probably established as 
a fact in science, that a man, in the condition above specified, 
by a simple act of his will upon his muscles, by which those 
36 



422 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

of one arm only shall be braced, will thereby send an elec- 
trical current of one sort through the galvanometer, while a 
like volition, which shall brace the muscles of the other arm 
will set in motion an opposite current. 

It is also ascertained, that of the two sorts of nerves which 
supply every muscle, the nerve of sensibility is a positive pole 
of a Voltaic circuit, while the nerve of motion, or the muscle 
into which it passes, is a negative pole. So that the sensor 
nerves act as electric telegraphs to carry the sensations to the 
brain, and inform it what is needed, while the motor nerves 
bring back the volition to the muscles — the brain acting as a 
galvanic battery, very much like the electric organs of certain 
fishes. 

From these statements it clearly follows, that, besides the 
mechanical effects produced by our actions, there is also an 
electric influence excited and propagated by almost every 
muscular effort, every chemical change within us, every vari- 
ation in the state of health, or vigor, and especially by every 
mental effort; for no thought, probably, can pass through the 
mind which does not alter the physiological, chemical, and 
electric condition of the brain, and consequently of the whole 
system. The stronger the emotion, the greater the change ; 
so that those great mental efforts, and those great decisions 
of the will, which bring along important moral effects, do also 
make the strongest impression upon the material universe. 
We cannot say how widely, by means of electric force, they 
reach; but if so subtile a power does, as we have reason to 
suppose, permeate all space, and all solid matter, there may 
be no spot in the whole universe where the knowledge of 
our most\ secret thoughts and purposes, as well as our most 
trivial outward act, may not be transmitted on the lightning's 
wing ; and it may be, that, out of this darkened world, there 



ODYLIC KEACTION. 423 

may not be found any spot where beings do not exist with 
sensibilities keen enough to learn, through electric changes, 
what we are doing and thinking. 

If there be no absurdity in supposing that even the mechan- 
ical influence of our actions may be felt throughout the uni- 
verse, still less is it absurd to infer the same results from 
electric agencies. 

It would seem, from recent discoveries, that electricity has 
a more intimate connection with mental operations than any 
other physical force. If not identical with the nervous influ- 
ence, it seems to be employed by the mind to accompany that 
influence to every part of the system ; and the greater the 
mental excitement, the more energetic the electric movement. 
It seems to us a marvellous discovery, which enables man to 
convey and register his thoughts at the distance of thousands 
of miles by the electric wires. Should it excite any higher 
wonder to be told, that, by means of this same power, all our 
thoughts are transmitted to every part of the universe, and 
can be read there by the acute r perceptions of other beings 
as easily as we can read the types or hieroglyphics of the 
electric telegraph? Yet what a startling thought is it, that 
the most secret workings of our minds and hearts are momen- 
tarily spread out in legible characters over the whole material 
universe ! nay, that they are so woven into the texture of the 
universe, that they will constitute a part of its web and woof 
forever ! To believe and realize this is difficult ; to den} r it 
is to go in the face of physical science. How many things 
we do believe that are sustained by evidence far less sub- 
stantial ! 

My fourth argument in support of the general principle is 
based upon odylic reaction. 

And what is odylic reaction ? What is odyle ? you will 



424 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

doubtless inquire. It is, indeed, a branch of science emphatically 
new. I know of no account of it, save what appears in a late 
work, of nearly five hundred pages, by Baron Reichenbach, 
of Vienna, entitled " Researches on Magnetism, Electricity, 
Heat, Light, Crystallization, and Chemical Attraction, in their 
Relations to the Vital Force," translated by William Gregory, 
professor of chemistry in the University of Edinburgh. This 
writer endeavors to show, by a great number of experiments, 
that there exists in all bodies, and throughout the universe, a 
peculiar principle, analogous to magnetism, electricity, light, 
and heat, yet distinct from them all, to which he gives the 
name of odyle. It is most manifest in powerful magnets ; 
next in crystals, and exists in the human body, the sun, moon, 
stars, heat, electricity, chemical action, and, in fact, the whole 
material universe. Those who are most sensitive to this in- 
fluence are persons of feeble health, especially somnambu- 
lists ; but it is found that about one third of individuals, taken 
promiscuously, and many in good health, are sensible of it ; 
and it was by a series of observations on persons of all classes 
and conditions for years, that the facts have been elicited. 
The inquiry seems to have been conducted with great fairness 
and scientific skill, and the author has the confidence of sev- 
eral of the most distinguished scientific men in Europe. If 
there be no mistake in the results, they promise to explain 
philosophically many popular superstitions, and also the phe- 
nomena of mesmerism, without a resort to superhuman agen- 
cy, either satanic or angelic. They yield, also, an interesting 
support to the principle of this lecture. Says Baron Reich- 
enbach, " There is nothing in these observations [which he 
had just detailed] that, after the contents of the preceding 
treatises, can much surprise us ; but they are certainly a fine 
additional confirmation of what has been stated in regard to 



CHEMICAL REACTION. 425 

the sun and moon, and also of the fact that the whole material 
universe, even beyond our earth, acts on us with the very 
same kind of influence which resides in all terrestrial objects ; 
and lastly, it shows that we stand in a connection of mutual 
influence, hitherto unsuspected, with the universe ; so that, in 
fact, the stars are not altogether devoid of action on our sub- 
lunary, perhaps even on our practical, world, and on the men- 
tal processes of some heads." — P. 162. 

By the experiments here referred to by this author, he had 
endeavored to show, that even the light of the stars exerted 
an odylic influence upon the human system ; that is, certain 
effects independent altogether of their light; and if there be 
no mistake in the experiments, they certainly do show this. 
Such a fact almost realizes the suggestions already made, 
that beings in other spheres may possess such an exaltation 
of sensibilities as to be able to learn what is going on in this 
world, and that it is easy to conceive how our sensorium may 
be raised to the same exalted pitch. 

My fifth argument, illustrative of the general principle, is 
based upon chemical reaction. 

Mechanical reaction changes the form and position of 
bodies ; chemical reaction alters their constitution. By the 
decomposition of some compounds, the elements are obtained 
for forming others ; and such changes are going on around 
us and within us in great numbers unperceived. In the worlds 
above us, and in the earth beneath us, from its circumference 
to its centre, the transmutations of chemistry are in progress, 
and many of them are modified by the agency of man ; so 
that here is another channel through which human actions 
exert an influence upon the material universe, and to an extent 
which we cannot measure. Let us look at some of the modes 
in which this is done. 
36 * 



426 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

Take, in the first place, the facts respecting photography, 
or the art of obtaining sketches of objects by means of the 
action of light. This is strictly a chemical process. In a 
beam of light, that comes to us from the sun, we find not 
only rays of light and heat, but chemical rays, which act 
upon some bodies to change their constitution. When these 
rays are reflected from a human countenance, and fall upon 
a silvered plate, that has been coated with iodine and bromine, 
they leave an impression, which is fixed and brought out as a 
portrait by the vapor of mercury and some other agents. 
Here the chemical changes produced by these rays are ex- 
ceedingly perfect ; but they produce effects upon many other 
substances, artificially or naturally prepared ; such as .paper, 
for instance, immersed in a solution of bichromate of potash, 
or upon vegetation, whose green color is probably the result 
of this action, (as is obvious from the fact that plants grow- 
ing in the dark are destitute of color.) Indeed, a large part 
of the changes of color in nature depend upon these invis- 
ible rays. 

It seems, then, that this photographic influence pervades all 
nature ; nor can we say where it stops. We do not know 
but it may imprint upon the world around us our features, as 
they are modified by various passions, and thus fill nature 
with daguerreotype impressions of all our actions that are 
performed in daylight. It may be, too, that there are tests 
by which nature, more skilfully than any human photogra- 
phist, can bring out and fix those portraits, so that acuter senses 
than ours shall see them, as on a great canvas, spread over 
the material universe. Perhaps, too, they may never fade 
from that canvas, but become specimens in the great picture 
gallery of eternity. 

The thought may perhaps cross some mind, that, though 



CHEMICAL REACTION. 427 

those human actions which are performed in sunlight may be 
imprinted upon the universe, yet no deed of darkness can 
thus reveal its author, and remain an eternal stigma upon his 
name. But there is another phase to this subject. What is 
the evidence that the chemical rays of a sunbeam are rays 
of light ? We know that they are unequally diffused through 
the spectrum, being most energetic at its violet extremity ; 
but there is no proof that they are visible. They may, like 
heat, exert their appropriate influence, which seems to be 
mainly that of deoxidation, and yet not be colorific. If so, 
we might expect them to operate in the dark ; and experi- 
ment proves that they do. An engraving on paper, placed 
between an iodized silver plate and an amalgamated copper 
plate, was left in the dark for fifteen hours. On exposing 
the amalgamated plate to the vapor of mercury, " a very nice 
impression of the engraving was brought out — it having been 
effected through the thickness of the paper." — Mr. Hunt, 
" On the Changes which Bodies are capable of undergoing in 
Darkness" Phil. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 277. — Many like experi- 
ments prove the existence, among bodies, of a power analo- 
gous to, if not identical with, that which accompanies light, 
and is the basis of the photographic process. Some philoso- 
phers do not regard them as identical. But this is of little 
consequence in my present argument. For all agree that 
there is a power in nature capable of impressing the outlines 
of some objects upon others in total darkness. 

In respect to such cases, there are one or two facts deserv- 
ing of special notice. And, first. We must not infer, be- 
cause man has yet been able to bring out to human view but 
a few examples of this sort, that they are, therefore, few in 
nature. Rather should the discovery of a few lead to the 
conclusion that nature may be full of them, and that a more 



428 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

delicate and refined chemistry may yet disclose them. For 
the few known cases give us a glimpse of a recondite law of 
nature, which most likely pervades creation. Some regard 
these dark rays as neither light, nor heat, nor chemical rays, 
but a new element ; but, whatever its nature, no reason can 
be given why it should operate only in a few cases, and those 
of artificial preparation. More probably, through this influ- 
ence, all bodies brought into contact, or proximity, impress 
their images upon one another ; and the time may come, 
when, touched by a more subtile chemistry than man now 
wields, these images shall take a place among obvious and 
permanent things in the universe, to the honor and glory 
of some, but to the amazement and everlasting contempt 
of more. 

Of more, I say ; for wickedness has oftener sought the con- 
cealment of darkness than modest virtue. The foulest enor- 
mities of human conduct have always striven to cover them- 
selves with the shroud of night. The thief, the counterfeiter, 
the assassin, the robber, the murderer, and the seducer, feel 
comparatively safe in the midnight darkness, because no hu- 
man eye can scrutinize their actions. But what if it should 
turn out that sable night, to speak paradoxically, is an unerr- 
ing photographist ! What if wicked men, as they open their 
eyes from the sleep of death, in another world, should find 
the universe hung round with faithful pictures of their earthly 
enormities, which they had supposed forever lost in the obliv- 
ion of night ! What scenes for them to gaze at forever ! 
They may now, indeed, smile incredulously at such a sugges- 
tion ; but the disclosures of chemistry may well make them 
tremble. Analogy does make it a scientific probability that 
every action of man, however deep the darkness in which it 
was performed, has imprinted its image upon nature, and that 



CATALYSIS. 429 

there may be tests which shall draw it into daylight, and 
make it permanent so long as materialism endures. 

There is another chemical principle, called catalysis, 
through which human actions may make powerful and per- 
manent impressions on the universe, and that, too, unperceived 
by man. In some cases, the mere presence of a certain 
agent, in a small quantity, will produce extensive changes of 
constitution in other bodies, while the agent itself remains 
unaltered. Thus a strip of platinum will determine the 
union of oxygen and hydrogen in the platinum lamp ; and 
sulphuric acid, in a solution of starch, will change it first into 
gum, and then into sugar ; while neither the platinum nor the 
acid experiences any change. These are called catalytic 
changes. More often, however, the catalytic agent is itself 
in the process of change, and it produces an analogous 
change in other bodies. A familiar example is yeast, or fer- 
ment. This substance contains a principle called diastase, 
one part of which is capable of converting two thousand 
parts of starch into sugar ; and this is what is done in the 
familiar process of fermentation, when we always see verified 
the scriptural declaration, A little leaven leaveneth the 
whole lump. 

The precise manner in which the diastase operates in these 
cases we may not be able to explain. The particles of the 
diastase, being themselves in motion, possess the power of 
putting in motion the particles of other bodies; and these, 
again, operate upon others, and so on, often to an astonishing 
extent. In the case of the platinum and the acid, however, 
no change takes place in their molecules, and we can only 
state it, as an unexplained fact, that they do produce changes 
in other bodies. 

We have other examples of catalytic influences in nature, 



430 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

exhibiting an agency still more subtile and energetic. I refer 
to contagious and epidemic diseases in animals and plants. 
An influence goes abroad, and seems to be propagated 
through the atmosphere, traversing whole continents, and 
crossing wide oceans, powerful and deadly in its effects, yet 
inappreciable by the most delicate mechanical or chemical 
tests. But the phenomena admit of explanation by supposing 
a movement, either in the particles of the atmosphere, or of 
the still more subtile and elastic medium that pervades all 
space ; a movement started at a particular spot, as the chol- 
era in India, and the small-pox or some epidemic from some 
focus, and communicating an unhealthy movement from atom 
to atom, till it has encircled the earth and mowed down its 
hecatombs. 

Now, when we look at such facts, who can suppose it im- 
probable that man, who can hardly lift a finger without pro- 
ducing some chemical change, should start some of these 
movements, that may reach far beyond his imagination ? 
And here, as in the cases that have preceded, we must not 
estimate the actual change in the constitution of bodies by 
the apparent ; for we know that multitudes of such changes 
are passing within us and around us, without our cognizance ; 
and yet there may be chemical eyes in the universe quick 
enough to see them all, and to follow them onward to the 
final result ; for there must be a final resultant of all such 
forces ; nor can we doubt that, some time or other, and to some 
beings, if not to ourselves, it will be manifest. Here, then, is 
another mode in which a chemical influence may go forth 
from us, reaching the utmost limits of matter and of time ; 
nay, perhaps extending into eternity, and revealing our ac- 
tions to the finer sensibilities of exalted beings. 

I derive my sixth argument in support of the general prin- 
ciple from organic reaction. 



ORGANIC REACTIOiN. 431 

Few persons, save the zoologist and comparative anato- 
mist, have any idea of the great nicety and delicacy of the 
relations that exist between all the species of animals and 
plants, so that what affects one affects all the rest. Per- 
haps the subject may be illustrated by supposing all the spe- 
cies of organic beings to be distributed at different distances 
through a hollow sphere, while between them all there is a 
mutual repulsion, and the whole are retained in the form of a 
sphere by an attracting force directed to the centre. By 
such an arrangement, if one species be taken out of the 
sphere, or its repellency become stronger or weaker, the rela- 
tive position of all the rest would be altered. No matter 
how many millions of species there are, the movements of 
one will cause a reaction among all the rest. 

Now, this illustration, although an approximation, falls 
short of representing the actual state of things in nature. It 
is no exaggeration to say that a relation similar to tne sup- 
posed one exists throughout the vast dominions of animate 
beings ; so that you cannot obliterate or change one species 
without affecting all the rest. Often the change is effected so 
slowly and indirectly that the beings experiencing it are un- 
conscious of it ; or they may realize some slight disturbance 
of the balance in organic nature, and yet be unconscious of 
the cause. By the illustration above given, when one or more 
species is removed from the supposed sphere, or its repellent 
force weakened or strengthened, although an influence will 
reach all the other species, yet a new equilibrium will soon be 
established, and no permanently bad effects seem to follow. 
But not so in nature. There the balance originally fixed be- 
tween different beings by infinite wisdom is the best possible ; 
and every change, not intended by Providence, must be for 
the worse. It was intended, for instance, that man should 



432 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

subdue forests and extirpate noxious plants, as well as fero- 
cious and noxious animals; and, therefore, such a change 
operates to his advantage, but to the injury of the inferior ani- 
mals. Yet often he pushes this exterminating process so far 
as to injure himself also. Thus the farmer wages a relentless 
war against certain birds, because of some slight evils which 
they occasion. But when they are extirpated, opportunity is 
given for noxious insects to multiply, and to bring upon the 
farmer evils much greater than those he thus escapes. 

To prevent an excessive multiplication of some species is 
one of the grand objects of the present balance established 
among the whole. Such an increase is an inevitable effect 
of the extinction of a species, and it often occasions great 
mischief. The carnivorous species, especially, were intended 
to act as nature's police, to prevent a too great increase of the 
herbivorous races, which are rendered excessively fruitful to 
keep the world full. If, then, a carnivorous species become 
extinct, the species on which it has fed will so multiply as to 
prove great nuisances, and to produce wide disorder among 
many species, not only of animals, but of plants. And often 
has man, in this way, by the extermination of species, in par- 
ticular districts, unwittingly brought a powerful reaction on 
himself. 

On the Island of New Zealand, within one or two hundred 
years past, eight or ten species of gigantic birds — the dinor« 
nis and palapteryx — have become extinct, probably through 
the persecution of man. The natives, without doubt, hunted 
them down for food, until all disappeared ; and as no quadru- 
ped of much size inhabits the island, we think there is no 
little plausibility in the suggestion of Professor Owen, that 
when the birds were all gone, or nearly gone, the natives were 
tempted to the practice of cannibalism, as the only means of 



UNIVERSAL AND PERPETUAL. 433 

gratifying their passion for meat. What a terrible retribution 
for disturbing the equilibrium of organic nature ! 

The records of zoology and botany afford endless illustra- 
tion of this subject. But the great truth which they all teach 
is, that so intimately are we related to other beings, that al- 
most every action of ours reacts upon them for good or evil ; 
for good, upon the whole, when we conform to the laws which 
God has established ; and for evil, when by their violation we 
disturb the equilibrium of organized nature, and produce irreg- 
ular action. In this latter case, we cannot tell where the dis- 
turbance, thus introduced, will end ; for it is not a periodical 
oscillation, like the perturbations of the heavenly bodies, nor 
a mere change of position and intensity by mechanical forces. 

But does not this law of mutual influence between organic 
beings extend to other worlds ? Why should it not be trans- 
mitted by means of the luminiferous ether to the'limits of the 
universe ? Who knows but a blow struck upon a single link 
of organic beings here may be felt through the whole circle 
of animate existence in all worlds ? That is a narrow view 
of God's work, which isolates the organic races on this globe 
from the rest of the universe. The more philosophical view 
throws the golden chain of influence around the whole animal 
creation, whether small or great, near or remote. 

Reverting to the reasoning which we employed in tracing 
out the extent of mechanical reaction, we shall see that or- 
ganic reaction may extend not only to other worlds, but also 
into eternity. For if the matter of the universe is to survive 
the conflagration of the last day, the future economy of life 
must have some connection with the present, whether this 
earth or some other part of the universe be the theatre of its 
development. 

I speak here not of moral influences, which we know will 
37 



434 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

pass over from time into eternity, but of a physical reaction, 
which may also reach beyond the same gulf. For at least a 
part of those creatures, who in this world have felt the modi- 
fying power of other beings, will survive the world's final 
catastrophe, and occupy material, though spiritual bodies, 
whose germ is represented as derived from their bodies on 
earth. We have reason, then, to suppose some connection 
and modifying influence between them. And we might show, 
also, that moral causes, which so affect the physical character 
here, may exert a like power in eternity. But time will not 
permit the argument to be followed out. 

The conclusion, then, from this argument also, is, that prob- 
ably every action of ours on earth modifies the condition and 
destiny of every other created being in this and other worlds 
through time and eternity. What though human experience, 
dependent on the bluntness of mortal sensibilities, cannot 
demonstrate such an influence ? Shall the gross perceptions 
of this disordered world be made the standard of all that 
exists ? Rather let us listen to the suggestions of science, 
which tell us of the possibility of senses far more acute in 
other worlds, and in a future state of being — senses that can 
trace out and feel the vibrations of the delicate web of or- 
ganic influence that binds together the great and the small, 
the past, the present, and the future, throughout the universe. 

My seventh argument in support of the general principle 
depends upon mental reaction. 

Mental reaction operates in two ways — indirectly and 
directly ; indirectly through matter, directly by the influ- 
ence of mind upon mind, without an intervening medium. 
When describing electric reactions, I have shown how our 
thoughts and volitions change the electric, chemical, and even 
mechanical condition of the body, and, through these media, 



MENTAL REACTION. 435 

that of all the material universe ; and I need not repeat that 
argument. But to modify the inanimate world through these 
agencies necessarily affects all other intellects, which are 
connected with matter.; and since man in a future world is to 
assume a spiritual body, we may reasonably suppose that all 
created beings are in some way connected with matter ; and, 
therefore, by means of materialism, through the subtile agen- 
cies that have been named, we may be sure that an influence 
goes out from every thought and volition of ours, and reaches 
every other intellect in the wide creation. I know not whether, 
in other worlds, their inhabitants possess sensibilities acute 
enough to be conscious of this influence ; certainly, in this 
world, it is only to a limited extent that men are conscious of 
it. Yet we must admit that it exists and acts, or deny the 
demonstrated verities of science. 

But is there not evidence that mind sometimes acts directly 
upon other minds, without any gross, intervening media ? It 
may, indeed, be doubted whether any created intellect oper- 
ates, except in connection with some form of matter. Yet 
there are certain facts in the history of individuals in an 
abnormal state, which show that one mind acts upon another, 
independent of the senses, or any other material means of 
intercommunication discoverable by the senses. Take the 
details of sleep-waking, or somnambulism ; and do not they 
present us with numerous cases in which impressions are 
made by one mind upon another, even when separated beyond 
the sphere of the senses ? Take the facts respecting double 
consciousness, and those where the power was possessed of 
reading the thoughts of others, or the facts relating to pre- 
vision ; and surely they cannot be explained but by the sup- 
position of a direct influence of one mind upon another. . 

Still more decided in this respect are the most familiar facts 



436 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE, 

of artificial somnambulism, called mesmerism. Whatever 
may be our views of this unsettled branch of knowledge as a 
whole, it would seem as if we could not doubt that its facts 
prove the action of mind upon mind, independently of bodily 
organization, without rejecting evidence which would prove 
any thing else. 

Now, if we admit that mind does operate upon other minds 
while we are in the body, independent of the body, can we 
tell how far the influence extends ? If electricity, or some 
other subtile agent, be essential to this action, it would indeed 
transfer this example to electric reaction, but it would still be 
real. Yet, in the absence of all certain proof of the electric 
power in this case, and with certain proof of the existence of 
such an influence, we may place it among those marvellous 
means by which man makes an impression, wide beyond our 
present knowledge, upon the universe, material and mental ; 
and it ought to make us feel that our lightest thoughts and 
feeblest volitions may reach the outer limit of intellectual life, 
and its consequences meet us in distant worlds, and far down 
the track of eternity. 

Finally. I derive an argument in support of the general 
principle from geological reaction. 

By this expression, I mean those reactions of whose exist- 
ence geology furnishes the proof. They are, in fact, the 
reactions already considered ; but geology proves that they 
have actually operated in past time in many instances, by 
evidence registered on the rocks, and thus tends to confirm 
our reasoning derived from other sources. I do not mean 
that the proof is before us of precisely such an action as our 
reasoning has supposed, but so analogous to that supposed as 
to lend it confirmation. A few examples will illustrate the 
argument 



GEOLOGICAL REACTION. 437 

The effects of mechanical reaction are, perhaps, most fre- 
quent and striking in the rocks, especially those deposited 
from water. Here we have, for instance, the ripple marks, 
which present us with a faithful register of the slightest move- 
ment of the waters, and also of the motions of the atmosphere, 
or of the currents in it, that agitated the waters. In the 
almost impalpable powder that sometimes constitutes the 
rocks, we can trace the slightest erosion and comminution 
of the strata from which the deposit was worn. In the petri- 
fied rain drops we find an indeliWe trace of the most gentle 
shower. And here, too, we can see the direction of the wind. 
Such facts, also, imply the operation of electricity and gravity, 
of heat and cold, collecting and condensing the rain, and 
bringing it down ; and so similar to present meteorological 
phenomena do these ancient showers appear to have been, 
that we may conclude that electrical reactions, in all respects, 
were the same as at present. 

The preservation of the tracks of numerous animals in some 
of the sandstones shows us how deep and permanent an im- 
pression the most trivial action of a living being may make. 
In these footmarks we sometimes notice a change in the di- 
rection of the animal along the surface ; and, of course, an 
impression deeper or more shallow than usual, of parts of the 
foot, by the action of the muscles employed in changing the 
animaPs course. Here, then, we have the register of so slight 
an action as an increased or diminished action of a particular 
muscle of the leg. Nay, further, such a movement affords 
us an infallible register of an act of the animal's will, since 
that must have preceded the change ; and that implies an 
electric current, first inward along the sensor nerves, and then 
outward along the motor nerves. 

Geology lays open before us a map of the changes in organic 
37* 



438 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

nature from the apparent commencement of life on the globe, 
and thus enables us to see examples of this kind of reaction. 
We find different economies of life to have appeared, but all 
of them most wisely adapted to existing circumstances. In 
each economy we perceive the balance between the different 
tribes provided for. If, for instance, one race of carnivorous 
species died out, new races were created to occupy their 
place, so that the herbivorous species should not overrun the 
globe. Thus, when the early sauroid fishes diminished, the 
gigantic and carnivorous marine saurian reptiles were intro- 
duced. And when the chambered shells, whose occupants 
were carnivorous, disappeared with the secondary period, 
numerous univalve mollusks were created to feed on other 
animals ; although previously that family were herbivorous. 
It would seem, however, as if each successive economy of 
organic life had contained within itself the seeds of extinc- 
tion. It was, indeed, mainly a change of climate which first 
caused some species to disappear. But their destruction so 
disturbed the balance of creation that others followed, until 
total extinction was the result, which, however, was often 
hastened by catastrophes. 

Thus we have in the stony volume of the earth's history 
actual examples of effects resulting from the acts, and even 
volitions, of the inferior animals, which can never be erased 
while the rocks endure. 

If, therefore, with our imperfect senses, we can see these 
results so distinctly, we may safely infer that human conduct, 
and thought, and volition impress upon the globe, nay, upon 
the universe, marks which nothing can obliterate. 

The thoughts which press upon the mind, in view of such 
a conclusion, are numerous and interesting. A ^ew we can 
hardly help noticing. 



INFERENCES. 439 

In the first place, what a centre of influence does man 
occupy ! 

It is just as if the universe were a tremulous mass of jelly 
which every movement of his made to vibrate from the cen- 
tre to the circumference. It is as if the universe were one 
vast picture gallery, in some part of which the entire history 
of this world, and of each individual, is shown on canvas, 
sketched by countless artists, with unerring skill. It is as if 
each man had his foot upon the point where ten thousand tel- 
egraphic wires meet from every part of the universe, and he 
were able, with each volition, to send abroad an influence 
along these wires, so as to reach every created being in 
heaven and in earth. It is as if we had the more than Gorgon 
power of transmuting every object around us into forms beau- 
tiful or hideous, and of sending that transmuting process 
forward through time and through eternity. It is as if we 
were linked to every created being by a golden chain, and 
every pulsation of our heart or movement of our mind mod- 
ified the pulsation of every other heart and the movements 
of every other intellect. Wonderful, wonderful is the posi- 
tion man occupies, and the part he acts ! And yet it is not 
a dream, but the deliberate conclusion of true science. 

Secondly. We see in this subject the probability that our 
minutest actions, and perhaps our thoughts, from day to day, 
are known throughout the universe. 

I speak not here of the divine omniscience, which we 
know reaches every thought and action ; but I refer to created 
beings. Science shows us how, in a variety of modes, such 
knowledge may be conveyed to them by natural agencies ; 
and we have only to suppose them to be possessed of far 
more acute sensibilities than man's, in order to be affected by 
these agencies as we are by more powerful impressions. 



440 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

And when we consider how fettered and depressed a condi- 
tion this world obviously is in, because of its sinfulness, who 
will doubt but the unfallen beings of other spheres may enjoy 
those keener perceptions that will bring our whole history 
distinctly before them, day by day ? The thought is, indeed, 
startling, but not unphilosophical. 

If this suggestion be true, then may we indulge the thought 
as highly probable that our friends, who have gone before us 
into the eternal world, may be as familiar with our conduct, 
our words, and even our thoughts, as we are ourselves. If 
we are acting as we ought, and so as will please them, this 
must be an animating idea ; but if we are not, let it serve to 
stimulate us to our duty, if a sense of the divine omniscience 
is not sufficient. 

We infer from this subject, thirdly, the 'probability that, in 
a future state, the power of reading the past history of the 
world, and of individuals, may be possessed by man. 

The nature of the future spiritual body, and of the heav- 
enly state and employments, impresses the mind with the 
belief that it will be a condition far more exalted than the 
present, and that the inlets to the soul will be cleared of all 
obstructions ; so that no impression made on such a sensorium 
shall fail to give the mind a distinct perception. In heaven, 
such extreme sensibility might become a source of richest 
pleasure ; in the world of despair, an instrument of severe 
punishment; yet in both cases it might be .the natural result 
of a man's earthly course. Now, such an indefinite exalta- 
tion of the perceptions in futurity scarcely any one will 
doubt. Why should we doubt any more that it may rise so 
high that man will be able to read, through the agencies we 
have pointed out, the minutest action and thought in human 
experience ? If, as we have reason to suppose, angels 



THE SUICIDE. 441 

can do it now, the Bible informs us that we shall be like 
the angels. 

If this view be admitted, then it may be that the present 
world is the only spot in the universe where deeds of wicked- 
ness can be concealed. In a sinful world we can see reasons 
why the power of concealment should exist to some ex- 
tent. For though no man should do or think any thing which 
he is ashamed to have known,- yet, if all the plans of men for 
the promotion of good objects were fully known from their 
inception, the wicked could generally defeat them. But in a 
world of perfect holiness no such necessity would exist, since 
the universal desire would be to promote every worthy ob- 
ject ; and, therefore, it may be that every soul will lie per- 
fectly open to the inspection of all other souls — an arrange- 
ment that seems appropriate to such a world. 

In what an aspect does this principle present the conduct 
of the suicide ! Tired of earthly scenes, he rushes unbidden 
into eternity to escape them. But instead of escaping them, 
he goes where every one of these mortal evils — yea, and 
multiplied, too, a thousand fold — shall start up in his path 
with a distinctness of which he had no conception. And 
henceforth he can never find, as in this world, even a partial 
deliverance from their terrible vividness. It is as if, to avoid 
the moonlight, because too brigjit, a man should plunge 
into the sun. 

Again, if this principle be true, how annoying will it be, to 
the man who has not acted well his part in this world, to meet 
in eternity the ever-recurring mementoes of his evil deeds ! 
He will hardly be able to open his eyes without seeing some 
plague-spot on creation as the result of his conduct ; and 
although infinite wisdom and power have stayed the plague, 
no thanks are due to him. The tendencies of his conduct on 



442 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

earth will be most distressing to look upon ; and these shall 
not cease to lie open before him till the last sand in the glass 
of eternity is run out. 

But, on the other hand, how does this principle strew the 
path of eternity with flowers to that man who, in this world, 
finds his highest pleasure in doing good ! Not merely his 
highest and noblest deeds of benevolence here shall loom up 
in bright perspective there, but a thousand acts of private 
beneficence, unknown to the world and forgotten by himself, 
shall stand out distinctly on the moving panorama of that bet- 
ter world ; and he will be amazed to see what a wide and 
blessed influence they have exerted, and will exert, as the 
catalytic influence moves on and widens in its endless march. 
It might have ruined him to see these fruits in this world, by 
exciting pride and vain glory ; but it will awaken there only 
gratitude and love to the grace that enabled him thus, in time, 
to sow the seeds which should fill eternity with flowers, and 
fragrance, and golden fruit. 

Finally. What new and astonishing avenues of knowledge 
does this subject show us will probably open upon the soul in 
eternity ! 

I do not now speak of the new knowledge of the divine 
character which will then astonish and delight the soul by 
direct intuition, but rather of those new channels that will 
be thrown open, through which a knowledge of other worlds, 
and of other created beings, can be conveyed to the soul 
almost illimitably. And just consider what a field that will 
be. At present we know nothing of the inhabitants of other 
worlds, and it is only by analogy that we make their exist- 
ence probable. Nor, with our present senses, could we learn 
any thing respecting them but by an actual visit to each 
world. But let the suggestions to which our reasonings have 



NEW AVENUES OF KNOWLEDGE IN ETERNITY. 443 

conducted us prove true, — let our sensorium be so modified 
and spiritualized that every thought, word, and action in those 
worlds shall come to us through pulsations falling upon the 
organ of vision, or by an electric current through the nerve 
of sensation, or by some transmitted chemical change, — and 
on what vantage ground should we be placed ! Without 
leaving the spot of our residence, supposing the universe con- 
stituted as it now is, we might study out the character and 
constitution of the countless inhabitants of at least one hun- 
dred millions of worlds, which we know to exist ; nay, of ten 
thousand times that number, which probably exist. Every 
movement of matter around us, however infinitesimal, would 
be freighted with new knowledge, perhaps from distant 
spheres. Every ray of light that met our gaze from the 
broad heavens above us would print an image upon our visual 
organs of events transpiring in distant worlds, while every 
electrical flash might convey some idea to our mind never 
before thought of. Every chemical ray, too, might inform us 
of scenes far off in the regions of night ; and then who can 
calculate what organic and mental influences might be trans- 
mitted to us from beings of all ranks and scattered through 
all worlds ? To speak of organs, indeed, as the medium of 
perceptions in another world, may be absurd ; but we mean 
only, by that term, whatever may be substituted for our pres- 
ent organs ; and we assume that the properties of matter will 
exist forever; and, therefore, we may presume that light, and 
electricity, and chemical affinity, and corporeal and mental 
influences will, under modified forms, be the modes by which 
knowledge shall ever be transmitted. At least, assuming that 
they will be, and the magnificent conceptions we have now 
traced out may be hereafter realized. And surely, if they be 
only slightly probable, the anticipation is full of thrilling 



444 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 

interest, and the moral effect of dwelling upon it must be salu- 
tary. It spreads out before us fields of knowledge which 
eternity can never exhaust, and attractive so immeasurably 
above all the knowledge of earth that we almost wait impa- 
tiently for the summons to break from our prison-house below, 
and to rise on our new pinions to celestial scenes. 

If such rich means of knowledge of created things be en- 
joyed by celestial minds, and they can drink it in to the full 
measure of their faculties, then one inevitable effect must be 
to make them unite, ever and anon, in adoration and praise 
to the infinite Being who created and sustains all, and whose 
glory is illustrated by all his works. And we can conceive 
that there may be stated periods, when, from every part of 
the universe, the anthem of praise comes rolling onwards 
towards some central spot, where the divine presence is most 
felt. O, how gladly will each happy soul, animated by every 
new accession of knowledge, join in the swelling psean as it 
mounts up to the third heavens ! Who knows but this is the 
hour when the peal is beginning ? O, let not this world be 
the only spot in the universe where it shall be unheard and 
unheeded. Surely we see enough of the divine glory here 
to begin the song, which we hope to pour forth in loftier notes 
on high, unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only 
wise God ; to ivhom be honor and glory, forever and ever. 
Amen. 



(445) 



LECTURE XIII. 
THE VAST PLANS OP JEHOVAH. 

It is interesting and instructive to trace the history of man's 
progress in the knowledge of the existence, character, and 
plans of Jehovah. We shall find that progress to have been 
marked by epochs, rather than continuous advancement. 
Some new revelation from heaven, or some new discovery in 
science, has given a sudden expansion to his views of the 
Deity, which have then remained in a good degree stationary 
for a long period. My chief object in this lecture is to show 
what accessions to our knowledge of the divine plans have 
been derived from science, especially from geology. But it 
will give greater distinctness and impressiveness to the sub- 
ject to take a review of the principal steps by which the human 
mind has reached its present accurate spiritual and enlarged 
views of the Deity. 

We will first look at man in the rudest condition in society, 
in which he has any idea of the existence of beings sujierior 
to himself 

For there is a state of his being in which no such ideas 
exist in his mind ; tribes of men, and especially individuals, 
who have lived in a wild state, away from all human inter- 
course, have been found with no idea of a superior being of 
any sort. Other tribes have existed a little more elevated 
above the irrational animals, and these have an impression, 
derived perhaps from their moral sense, or growing out of 
38 



446 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

their superstitious fears, that some power exists in the uni- 
verse greater than themselves. But having never entertained 
an abstract idea on any other subject, and depending alone 
upon their senses for their knowledge, they identify God with 
the most remarkable objects of nature. They listen to his 
voice in the wind and the thunder, in the ocean's roar, and 
the volcano's bellowing ; and they see him in the sun, moon, 
and stars. They feel that he must be superior to themselves ; 
but how much superior, they know not. They never think 
of him as infinite, because the idea of infinity on any subject 
never enters their mind. They conceive of the earth only as 
a plain of considerable extent, bounded by a circle, beyond 
which their thoughts never wander ; and they look up to the 
heavens as a dome, perhaps solid, studded by luminous bodies, 
it may be a few feet or yards in diameter. They suppose 
that, somehow or other, this superior Being has the control 
of their destinies ; but the idea of any thing like worship is 
too spiritual to be conceived of, except, perhaps, some super- 
stitious rite, performed to deprecate the divine displeasure. 
In short, every thing in their notion of God is indefinite, gross, 
and confined to the narrow sphere of the senses. 

In the second place, polytheism, especially among nations 
somewhat civilized, is an advance in man's conceptions of the 
Supreme Being. 

Polytheism probably originated in the deification of distin- 
guished men. Superior minds, who had been the leaders or 
the benefactors of mankind, were suddenly torn from an ad- 
miring world by death. Their bodies were left behind, but 
the animating principle, the immortal mind, had vanished in a 
moment ; and it was a most natural inquiry, even among the 
most ignorant, whether some undying principle had not es- 
caped and gone to a higher sphere ; for it would be difficult 



POLYTHEISM. 447 

to conceive how so much intelligence and virtue should be 
quenched in a moment in eternal night. It would be a most 
natural and gratifying conclusion with survivors, that their 
departed leaders and benefactors still lived, and were in some 
way concerned in watching over their interests, and in con- 
trolling their destinies. Conjectures of this sort would, in a 
few generations, settle into positive belief. Now, this would 
be a most important advance upon the gross materialism, and 
indefinite ideas, which identified divinity with striking objects 
of nature ; for if distinguished warriors and statesmen were 
still alive after their bodies were laid in the grave, there must 
have escaped, at the moment of death, some principle too 
subtile to be cognizable by the senses, or by chemical, me- 
chanical, or electrical agencies; and which, therefore, may 
have been immaterial. At least, by such a belief, men would 
be led insensibly to form an idea of the human soul as an ex- 
tremely tenuous, if not immaterial, principle. Especially 
would educated men — those devoted to philosophical pur- 
suits — come at length to have a clear conception of a spir- 
itual being, neither visible by the senses, nor dependent upon 
the senses for the exercise of its faculties. Very soon would 
the imagination fill the universe with such beings, and con- 
ceive them as holding intercourse with one another, and as 
presiding over all the objects of this lower world, and direct- 
ing all its destinies. It would be very natural, however, to 
endow these superior beings with human characteristics, and 
to suppose them actuated by human passions ; and thus would 
the celestial society be represented as a counterpart of that 
on earth, deformed by the same vices and crimes. This 
would lead to the idea of a gradation in rank, power, and 
intellect among the gods, and to the conception of one as 
supreme. In the popular mythology, however, even Jupiter was 



448 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

represented as acting under the influence of selfishness, pride, 
lust, and passion ; and as sometimes brought into peril by his 
powerful inferiors. Some of the philosophers of Greece and 
Rome did, indeed, give descriptions of their supreme divinity 
not unworthy the biblical views of Jehovah. It may be that 
they got the clew to these just and elevated conceptions from 
the Bible. But it is not difficult to conceive that, in the man- 
ner which I have described, they might, by reasoning, with, 
perhaps, some hints derived from revelation, have gradually 
attained to these just and noble conceptions of the supreme 
divinity. Yet it ought not to be forgotten that these exalted 
views of the philosophers were not shared at all by the com- 
mon people, and that even the philosophers themselves were 
for the most part polytheists. 

The next step in man's knowledge of God was an im- 
measurable advance upon polytheism. I refer to the revela- 
tion which God made of himself to the Jews in the Old Tes- 
tament. Most of this revelation did, indeed, precede the 
writings of the Greek and Roman philosophers, but it was 
confined to a rude and almost unknown people, until the days 
of their glory had gone by, and did not spread over the globe 
till an opportunity had been afforded to prove that the world 
oy wisdom knew not God. You may, indeed, find, in the writ- 
ings of a few philosophers, passages descriptive of the natural 
attributes of the Deity that will compare favorably with those 
of the Old Testament. But his moral attributes, his benevo- 
lence, mercy, justice, and holiness, are brought out in the Old 
Testament in a far more distinct and impressive manner than 
in all other ancient writings. Another point, and a vital one, 
with the writers of the Old Testament, in which that inspired 
volume goes infinitely beyond the philosophers, is the unity 
of God. They teach, as a fundamental principle, and with 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 44& 

all the earnestness which inspiration can bestow, not only that 
Jehovah is supreme, but that he is God alone, and that no 
other gods exist. You may, indeed, find statements to this 
effect in the works of the philosophers ; but the conduct of 
Socrates, the most enlightened of them all, — in his dying 
moments, — in directing a sacrifice to be made to iEsculapius, 
is a good practical commentary upon their doctrine of the 
divine unity. It shows that, with some correct notions of the 
supreme divinity, they believed in the existence of inferior 
deities ; or, at least, they did not regard the popular error on 
this subject of importance enough to require them boldly to 
testify against it. But such testimony constitutes the burden 
of the Old Testament, as if all other religious truths were of 
little importance without it. And so far as these inspired 
books succeeded in fixing this doctrine in the minds of the 
Jews, they performed an immense service for religion. They 
swept at once from the universe the thirty thousand divinities 
of Greece and Rome, and placed Jehovah only on the throne. 
But, for some reason or other, polytheism has always been a 
doctrine most congenial to human nature ; especially to the 
uncultivated mind ; and the probability is, that the great mass 
of the Jews, while they believed in the supremacy of Jehovah, 
still supposed that the gods of the heathen had a real exist- 
ence. This certainly was the case before the Babylonish 
exile, though doubtless the patriarchs had more correct no- 
tions. This fact explains the otherwise unaccountable dispo- 
sition of the Jews to fall away to idolatry, in spite of all which 
Jehovah did to preserve among them his true worship. 

On the subject, also, of the divine spirituality, we have evi- 
dence that the notions of the great mass of the Jewish nation 
were low and confused. They distinguished, it is true, very 
clearly between the body and the soul. But they probably 
38* 



450 THE VAST TLA.Xo 01- JEHOVAH. 

conceived of the latter as a very subtile, invisible, corporeal 
essence, and not that pure, immaterial substance which is 
understood by that term in metaphysics. The abstract ideas 
attached to the soul in the nineteenth century probably never 
entered their minds ; and though in strict language they might 
be called materialists, they were by no means such material- 
ists as modern times have produced, who understandingly 
deny the existence of the soul, and regard it as a function of 
the brain. The Jews thought of God as the most subtile es- 
sence of which they could form any idea ; but whether he 
were material, or immaterial, probably they never inquired. 
And it cannot escape the notice of a reader of the Old Testa- 
ment how frequently God is represented by figures derived 
from material objects. This was in accommodation to the 
rude and uncultivated stale of most minds in those early days. 
Purely abstract truths would have conveyed no ideas to minds 
which had never been accustomed to abstractions. Hence it 
is, that we meet in the Bible with so many descriptions of the 
Deity, which theologians and philosophers denominate an- 
thropopathic and anthropomorphic. It was in accommodation 
to the uncultivated state of common minds, which could form 
no conceptions of God that were not founded on some prop- 
erty belonging to man. The language of the sacred writers 
does, indeed, when correctly interpreted, convey the idea of 
the most perfectly simple, spiritual, and immaterial substance 
as constituting the divine essence ; and minds accustomed to 
abstract ideas find no difficulty in enucleating the spiritual 
meaning of Scripture. But had the divine Being been de- 
scribed by abstract terms, the great mass of men, even at the 
present day, would receive no impressive conception of the 
Godhead. God, therefore, in the Old Testament, revealed 
as much concerning himself and his plans, as men would 



CHRISTIANITY. 451 

understand. But other revelations and developments would 
follow, when the human mind should be prepared to receive 
and appreciate them. 

The revelations of Christianity have brought to light so 
much respecting the moral character anal moral government 
of Jehovah, as to leave little further to be desired or expected 
in this world. 

The natural attributes of the Deity have a more spiritual 
and less anthropopathic aspect in the New Testament than in 
the Old. We are told in the former distinctly, that God is a 
spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit 
and in truth. But God's moral character, as developed in the 
New Testament, in the plan of redemption and salvation, pre- 
sents us with a perfection and a glory unknown in all previous 
revelations. We have, it is true, in the Old Testament inti- 
mations and predictions of the plan, which is fully developed 
and exemplified in the new dispensation. But these were 
only shadows of Jesus Christ and him crucified. When he 
appeared, and by his sufferings, as a substitute for man, recon- 
ciled divine justice and mercy, and made a clear exposition 
of the moral law, and a disclosure of a future state of retribu- 
tions, a flood of light was thrown upon God's moral character. 
Every cloud that had rested upon it was cleared away, and 
immaculate holiness covered it with unapproachable splendor. 
In short, the human mind is incapable of forming a more cor- 
rect estimate of moral excellence than is exhibited in the 
scriptural plan of salvation. The more it is meditated upon, 
and the more we experience its practical influence, the higher 
will be our conceptions of the moral glory of the divine 
character; nor have we reason to suppose that any further 
revelations would increase our apprehensions of it. For be- 
nevolence, mercy, justice, and grace are here exhibited in 



452 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

unlimited, that is, in infinite, glory and perfection, and there- 
fore can never be exceeded. 

But though the exhibitions of the divine character and plans 
contained in the Bible are thus perfect and excellent, they are 
not the only exhibitions which the universe contains, and 
which man is capable of understanding. Lo, these are a part 
of his ways. The Bible has left the wonders of the natural 
world where it found them, to be examined and developed by 
philosophy. Some have thought that it has anticipated a few 
scientific discoveries ; but if it had done this in one instance, 
it must have carried the same plan through the whole circle 
of science ; else how could readers determine when the sacred 
writers were describing phenomena according to appearances 
and general belief, and when according to real scientific truth ? 
But the fact is, scientific discoveries are left to man's ingenu- 
ity ; and as they are made from time to time, they bring out 
new and splendid illustrations of the character and plans of 
Jehovah. Let us now recur to some of these discoveries, that 
have opened the widest vistas into the arcana of nature. 

The discoveries in modern astronomy constitute the fifth 
step in man's knowledge of God. 

In order to see how much man's conceptions of the universe 
have been enlarged by these discoveries, compare the opinions 
which prevailed before the introduction of the Copernican 
system with what is now certain knowledge, founded upon 
physico-mathematics, respecting the extent of the universe. 
Then this earth was thought to be the centre and the princi- 
pal body of the creation, immovably fixed, with the heavenly 
bodies, generally thought to be of diminutive size, revolving 
around it every twenty-four hours. The earth, too, except in 
the opinion of a few sagacious philosophers, was not imagined 
to be that vast globe which we now understand it to be but a 



MODERN ASTRONOMY. 453 

flat surface, perhaps a few hundred or thousand miles in ex- 
tent, bounded by a circle, and resting on an imaginary foun- 
dation. The heavenly bodies were looked upon as little more 
than shining points, or at most a few yards, or by the most 
daring fancies a few miles, in extent. What a change have 
the telescope, the quadrant, and the transit instrument, aided 
by profound mathematics, and the talismanic power of the 
Newtonian theory of gravitation, produced ! Every school- 
boy now knows that this globe, enormous though it be com- 
pared with what the eye can take in from the loftiest emi- 
nence, is but a mere speck in creation, and, with the 
exception of the moon, appearing from other worlds only as 
one of the smallest stars in iheir heavens; so small that its 
extinction would not be noticed. To the ignorant mind, dis- 
tances and magnitudes exceeding a hundred miles are con- 
ceived of only with great difficulty. But the astronomer, 
when he conceives of magnitudes, must make a thousand 
miles his shortest unit, and a million of miles when he con- 
ceives of distances in the solar system. And when he 
attempts to go beyond the sun and the planets, the shortest 
division on his measuring line must be the diameter of the 
earth's orbit ; and even then he will be borne onward so far, 
not on the wings of imagination, but of mathematics, that this 
enormous distance has vanished to a point. Even then he 
has only reached the nearest fixed star, and, of course, has 
only just entered upon the outer limit of creation. He must 
prepare himself for a still loftier flight. He must give up the 
diameter of the earth's orbit as the unit of his measurements, 
because too short, and take as his standard the passage of 
light, at the rate of two hundred thousand miles per second. 
With that speed can he go on, until his mind has reckoned up 
six thousand years of seconds, and he will reach fixed stars 



454 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

whose light has not yet arrived at the earth, because it did 
not commence its journey till the time of man's creation. 

But it is not merely in respect to distance and magnitude 
that astronomy has enlarged our knowledge of the universe. 
Numerically it has opened a field equally wide. Think of 
two thousand worlds rolling nightly around us, visible to the 
naked eye. Take the telescope, and see those two thousand 
multiply to fifty or one hundred millions, and then recollect 
how very improbable it is that the keenest optics of earth can 
reach more than an infinitesimal part of creation. Surely 
the mind is as much confounded and lost, when it attempts to 
conceive of the number of the worlds in the universe, as 
when it contemplates their distances and magnitudes. In 
respect to number and distance, at least, we find no resting- 
place but in infinity. 

Now, when we turn our thoughts to the Author of such a 
universe, our conceptions of his power, wisdom, and benevo- 
lence cannot but enlarge in the same ratio as our views of his 
works. They must, therefore, experience a prodigious ex- 
pansion. And, indeed, the merest child in a Christian land, 
in the nineteenth century, has a far wider and nobler concep- 
tion of the perfections of Jehovah than the wisest philosopher 
who lived before astronomy had gone forth on her circum- 
navigation of the universe. From the fact, also, which astron- 
omy discloses, that worlds are in widely different chemical 
and geological conditions, some gaseous and transparent, 
some solid and opaque, and some liquid and incandescent, 
the mind can hardly avoid the inference that they are fulfilling 
the vast and varied plans of Jehovah. 

The sixth step in ?nan's knowledge of Jehovah has been 
made by the microscope. 

To give any correct idea of the boundless field which that 



THE MICROSCOPE. 455 

instrument has opened into the infinitesimal parts of creation, 
it would be necessary to go into details too extended for the 
present occasion. Perhaps the animalcula or infusoria fur- 
nish the best example. " In the clearest waters,' 1 says an 
able writer, " and also in the strongly-troubled acid and salt 
fluids of the various zones of the earth ; in springs, rivers, 
lakes, and seas ; in the internal moisture of living plants and 
animal bodies ; and probably, at times, carried about in the 
vapor and dust of the whole atmosphere of the earth, exists a 
world, by the common senses of mankind unperceived, of 
very minute living beings, which have been called, for the 
last seventy years, infusoria. In the ordinary pursuits of 
life, this mysterious and infinite kingdom of living creatures 
is passed by without our knowledge of, or interest in, its 
wonders. But to the quiet observer how astonishing do these 
become, when he brings to his aid those optical powers by 
which his faculty of vision is so much strengthened ! In 
every drop of dirty, stagnant water, we are generally, if not 
always, able to perceive, by means of the microscope, moving 
bodies, of from one eleven hundred and fiftieth to one twen- 
ty-five thousandth of an inch in diameter, and which often lie 
packed so closely together that the space between each indi- 
vidual scarcely equals that of their diameter." — Prichard, 
History of Infusoria, p. 2, 1841. 

Again says he, " It is hardly conceivable that, within the 
narrow space, [of a grain of mustard-seed,] eight millions of 
living, active creatures can exist, all richly endowed with the 
organs and faculties of animal life. Such, however, is the 
astonishing fact." — lb. p. 3. 

In short, whoever will thoroughly study this subject will be 
satisfied that Dr. Ehrenberg does not exceed the truth when 
he asserts, as the result of his inquiries, that " experience 



456 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

shows an unfathomableness of organic creations, when atten- 
tion is directed to the smallest space, as it does of stars, 
when revealing the most immense." — Prichard, p. 8. 

He who follows out the revelations of the telescope, as it 
penetrates deeper and deeper into space, will feel, when he 
has seen the remotest object which its power discloses, that 
there must certainly be a vast unknown region beyond, infi- 
nitely exceeding that one over which he has passed. Just so 
is it with the microscope. It penetrates to an astonishing 
distance into the infinitesimal forms of organic and inor- 
ganic matter ; but every improvement in the instrument 
reaches a new and equally interesting field ; and the con- 
clusion forces itself upon the mind that there are regions 
beyond of indefinite extent, teeming with countless millions 
even of organic beings, of a size much more diminutive than 
those yet discovered, and with inorganic forms too minute 
for the imagination to conceive. Indeed, we can no more set 
limits to creation in the direction pointed out by the micro- 
scope than in that laid open by the telescope. We hence 
get a most impressive conception of divine wisdom and benev- 
olence, which could thus bestow exquisite organization and 
life upon atoms minute beyond the power of the imagination 
to conceive. Indeed, it seems to me that the lesson is even 
more striking than the contemplation of vast worlds in rapid 
and harmonious motion ; because the latter seem to demand 
only infinite power, but the former requires infinite wisdom 
to direct infinite power. 

In the seventh and last place, geology has given great en- 
largement to our knowledge of the divine plans and operations 
in the universe, and in the following particulars : — 

1. It expands our ideas of the time in which the material 
universe has been in existence as much as astronomy does in 
regard to its extent. 



GEOLOGY. 457 

To those not familiar with the details of geology, this will 
probably seem a startling and extravagant assertion. There 
has been, and still is, an extreme sensitiveness in the minds 
of intelligent men on this subject. And I highly respect the 
ground from which their apprehensions spring, viz., a fear that 
to admit the great antiquity of the globe would bring discredit 
upon revelation. And yet I believe the most candid and able 
theologians of the present day do not fear that to admit the 
existence of the matter of the world previous to the six days' 
work of creation, is inconsistent with the Mosaic statement. 
But if we allow any period between its creation and the six 
demiurgic days, it is no more derogatory to Scripture to make 
that period ten millions of years than ten years. For if the 
sacred writer would pass over ten years in silence, he could, 
with the same propriety, pass over ten millions. Now, the 
longer I study geology, the nearer do my ideas approximate 
to the latter number as a measure of the earth's duration. 
Let us contemplate a few facts. We are able to trace the 
geological changes that have taken place on the earth since 
man's existence upon it with a good deal of accuracy. For 
since his remains are found only in alluvium, we must regard 
all changes that took place previous to the deposition of that 
formation to have been of an earlier date than his creation. 
Now, what are the changes which the last six thousand years 
have witnessed ? In some places, the agency of rivers and 
other causes have made an accumulation of alluvial matter to 
the depth of not more than one or two hundred feet, although 
in particular places it is several hundred feet. These deposits 
have been pushed forward at the mouths of some large rivers, 
so as to cover hundreds, and even thousands, of square miles. 
Oceanic currents have also made deposits in the bottom of 
wide seas of considerable extent ; and in some limited spots 
39 



458 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

these deposits have been consolidated into rock. The action 
of frost and gravity, also, has crumbled from precipitous 
ledges angular fragments enough to form a slope of detritus 
sometimes a hundred feet high. The polyparia, or coral 
builders, have advanced their work only a few feet in thick- 
ness during this period, and soils have accumulated in some 
places about as much. Volcanic action has occasionally 
thrown up a new island from the ocean's bed ; but only a few 
of them have been permanent. Some tracts of country, in 
no case more than a few hundred miles in extent, have, by 
the same agency, been raised a few feet, or sunk down the 
same amount. But after all, the earth's surface remains es- 
sentially the same as when man was placed upon it. 

Now, compare these slight changes with those which have 
preceded it, through the operation of the same agencies, 
since the first existence of animals upon the globe. I will 
not contend, with some distinguished geologists, that these 
same changes have always operated with the same intensity 
as at present. But there are several circumstances which 
show that the depositions from water could not have been 
essentially different in ancient and modern times. Now, just 
compare six or eight miles in thickness of the fossiliferous 
deposits of the previous periods with the two hundred feet of 
alluvium accumulated during the historic period ; and, after 
you have made all reasonable allowance for the greater inten- 
sity of action in former times, you will still find yourselves 
confounded by the incalculable time requisite to pile up such 
an immense thickness of materials, and then to harden most 
of them into stone ; especially when you call to mind the nu- 
merous changes of organic life, and the vast amount of 
animal remains which they exhibit. A superficial observer 
might lump such a work, and crowd it into a few thousand 



GEOLOGICAI I 2RIODS. 459 

years But the more its details are studied, the longer does 
the period appear that is requisite for its production. Each 
successive investigation discovers new evidence of changes 
in composition, or organic contents, or of vertical movements 
effected by extremely slow agencies, so as to make the whole 
work immeasurably long. 

But when we have gone back to the commencement of 
animal existence on the globe, we have taken but one step in 
our review of its early history. The next backward step 
embraces that wide period during which the stratified, non- 
fossiliferous rocks — far thicker than the fossiliferous — were 
deposited ; probably by the agency of fire and water. Or if 
we adopt the metamorphic theory of Mr. Lyell, we shall be 
still more deeply impressed by the length of that period, 
during which these rocks were in a course of deposition, con- 
solidation, and metamorphosis. For he supposes them origi- 
nally deposited from water, just as mud, sand, and gravel 
now are accumulating in the ocean's bed, and to have envel- 
oped organic beings, as similar materials now do. Next the 
whole were consolidated, so as to form the exact prototype of 
the existing fossiliferous rocks ; and finally it underwent almost 
complete fusion, by the slow propagation of internal heat 
upwards, until all the organic contents were obliterated, and 
a crystalline structure was substituted.. Nay, according to 
this theory, other systems of rocks, of an analogous charac- 
ter, may have preceded the present primary stratified ones, 
and have been at length entirely melted into the unstratified ; 
so that we cannot say when organic life first began on the 
globe. But I will not press this theory, because most of the 
ablest geologists reject it, at least in its full extent. And we 
have a period long enough to confound the imagination, if we 
take the common view, which supposes the non- fossiliferous 



460 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

rocks to have been deposited from water, at a temperature too 
high to admit the existence of organic beings. 

We have now gone back to that point in the earth's history 
when a crust had begun to form over the shoreless ocean of 
melted matter, of which we have reason to suppose it was 
then composed. Shall we attempt to trace back that history 
any farther ? The light does, indeed, grow dim, and the 
clew more and more uncertain, the farther we recede along 
the track of the earth's existence. Still there are some scat- 
tered rays that seem to recall to us a condition of the earth 
still earlier than that in which it constituted a molten globe. 
It may have been dissipated into vapor, like a comet, or a 
nebula ; and subsequently, by the slow radiation of its heat, 
have been condensed into an opaque, though a melted, incan- 
descent mass. Several analogies certainly throw an air of 
plausibility over this hypothesis. And if such was, indeed, 
the earliest condition of the earth, the time requisite to con- 
dense it into melted matter must have been longer than any 
other period of its history. 

Who, now, at all familiar with the dynamics of geological 
agencies, shall undertake to give an arithmetical expression 
to the periods that make up the world's entire history ? Not 
only does the reasoning faculty fail to grasp the entire sum, 
but even imagination, as she flies backwards through period 
after period, tires in the effort, and brings back not even a 
conjectural result. The same feeling does, in fact, come over 
the mind, which she experiences when astronomy has hurried 
her from world to world, from sun to sun, from system to sys- 
tem, from nebula to nebula, and yet she seems no nearer to the 
limits of creation than when she started. We know certainly 
that there are limits ; because matter cannot be infinite. But 
we cannot conjecture where they are fixed. We know, also 



EXTENT OF ORGANIC LIFE. 461 

that there was a time when this world did not exist, an epoch 
when its entire mass was spoken into existence by the fiat of 
Jehovah ; because the Bible expressly declares it. But that 
epoch is unrevealed. If there is any truth in geology, it was 
certainly more than six thousand years ago. Nay, that sci- 
ence carries us as far back into the arcana of time as astron- 
omy does into the arcana of space. Neither the distance in 
the one case, nor the duration in the other, can be estimated. 
But there is a sublime inspiration in the effort to grasp the 
subject ; and I see not why there is not as much grandeur 
and high gratification in the idea of vast duration as of vast 
expansion. And I see not why we do not gain as much en- 
largement of our conceptions of the plans of Jehovah respect- 
ing the universe in the one case as in the other. We cannot 
but infer, from the pre-Adamic state of our world, that it 
must have subserved other purposes than to sustain its present 
inhabitants. 

2. In the second place, geology gives us impressive examples 
of the extent of organic life on the globe since its creation. 

I shall not contend, with some geologists, that even the pri- 
mary crystalline rocks may once have been filled with organic 
remains, which have been obliterated by heat ; and that, in 
this way, there may have been a number of creations of 
organized beings on the globe, of which no trace now re- 
mains. 1 take as the basis of my argument only the relics 
of animals and plants actually found in the rocks. And when 
one sees mountain masses, often of small shells, and spread 
over wide areas, he is amazed to learn how prolific nature 
has been. What a countless number of vegetables, too, must 
have been required to produce beds of coal from one to fifty 
feet thick, and extending over thousands of square miles, and 
alternating several times with sandstone in the same basin ! 
39* 



462 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

There is reason to believe, too, that the number of animals 
preserved in the strata bears only a small proportion to those 
which have been utterly destroyed and decomposed into their 
original elements. For example, in the sandstone along 
Connecticut River, the tracks of more than forty species of 
bipeds and quadrupeds have been found most distinctly 
marked. Some of these bipeds must have been of colossal 
size — as much as twelve or fifteen feet in height. And yet 
scarcely any other vestige of their existence has been discov- 
ered. They were the giant rulers of that valley for centu- 
ries ; but they have all vanished. How numerous, then, may 
have been the softer animals of the ancient world, which 
have not left even a footmark to certify their existence to 
coming generations ! 

But the facts recently brought to light respecting infusoria 
and polythalamia fill us with the greatest admiration of the 
extent of organic life upon the globe. We have already seen 
that some of these animals are so minute that eight millions 
of them are found in a space not larger than a mustard-seed ; 
and yet they had skeletons of silex, lime, and iron ; and, of 
course, these skeletons have been preserved ; and, though of 
the smallest size, it requires not less than forty-one billions to 
make a single cubic inch ; yet deposits of them, or of species 
not much larger, occur, several feet in thickness, and extend- 
ing over several square miles. Nay, the chalk of Northern 
Europe, and also of Western Asia, where it constitutes most 
of Mount Lebanon, and extends southerly through Palestine 
into Arabia and Egypt, and also deposits in North and South 
America, thousands of miles in extent, — this rock, I say, is 
nearly half composed of microscopic shells. The oolite, 
also, contains them ; and, indeed, infusorial remains occur in 
flint and opal ; and, as instruments and observations are 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM BUT ONE LINK OF A SERIES. 463 

perfected, more and more of the solid rocks are found to 
have once constituted the framework of animals. It is hardly 
to be doubted that such was the fact with nearly all the lime- 
stone on the globe, occupying at least a seventh part of its 
surface. In fact, we seem fast coming to regard as sober 
truth the ancient adage, apparently so extravagant — Omnis 
calx e vermibus ; omne ferritin e vermibus ; omnis silex e ver- 
mibus. Indeed, it is the opinion of so competent a geologist 
as Dr. Mantell that " probably there is not an atom of the solid 
materials of the globe which has not passed through the com- 
plex and wonderful laboratory of life." — Wond. of Geology, 
vol. ii. p. 670. — What a vast field here opens before us to 
contemplate the far-reaching plans, the benevolence, and the 
wisdom of the Deity ! 

In the third place, geology shows us that the present sys- 
tem of organic life on the globe is but one link of a series, 
extending very far backward and infinitely forward. 

Revelation describes only the existing species, leaving to 
science the task and the privilege to lift up the veil that hangs 
over the past, and to disclose other economies that have passed 
away. How many of them have existed we do not certainly 
know. If, with Agassiz, we characterize them by their pre- 
dominant tribes, we might say that all the period previous to 
the new red sandstone constituted the reign of fishes ; from 
thence to the chalk, the reign of reptiles ; from thence to the 
drift, the reign of mammifera. But this is a less philosoph- 
ical view than that of Deshayes, who finds five great groups 
of animals, specifically independent of one another. But 
who will attempt to fix the chronological limits of these sys- 
tems ? We can only say that they must have been exceed- 
ingly long, if we can place any dependence upon existing 
analogies ; and we know that each one of them is made up of 



464 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

numerous subdivisions, or minor groups, widely, though not 
entirely, different in composition and organic contents. We 
know that the more we examine the whole series, the deeper 
does our conviction become that its commencement runs back 
far, very far, into the depths of past eternity. We know, 
also, from the joint testimony of Scripture and geology, that 
another change is to pass over the world, to prepare it for in- 
habitants far more elevated than those now living upon it, 
and in possession of perfect holiness and perfect happiness. 
And it may be it will experience far greater changes, adapt- 
ing it for higher and higher grades of being, through periods 
of duration to which we can assign no limits. O, what a vast 
chain of being is here spread out before the imagination, 
reaching immeasurably far into the depths of the eternity 
which is past, and into the eternity which is to come ! What 
a field for the display of God's infinite perfections ! What 
a vista does it open to us into the vast plans and purposes of 
Jehovah ! 

In the fourth place, geology reveals to us a curious series 
of improvements in the condition of worlds, as they pass 
through successive changes. 

If the earth began its existence in the state of vapor, we 
can hardly imagine it in that state capable of sustaining any 
organic natures, formed upon the general type of those now 
existing. Nor, when the vapor was condensed into a molten 
globe, could such natures inhabit it, till a crust had formed 
over its surface, and the heat had been so reduced as not to 
decompose animals and plants. Even then, the natures 
placed upon it must have been of a peculiar and low type of 
organization, capable of enduring the high temperature and 
catastrophes which would destroy those of more delicate and 
complicated organization. But gradually did the temperature 



A SERIES OF IMPROVEMENTS. 465 

diminish, while aqueous and atmospheric agencies were accu- 
mulating a deeper and a richer soil, so that the next change 
of inhabitants would allow natures of a higher organization 
and a denser population to occupy the surface. Their re- 
mains, buried in the earth, would increase the quantity of car- 
bonate of lime in a form available for the use of animals and 
plants ; that is, lime would gradually be eliminated, by plants 
and animals, from its more concealed combinations in the 
crystalline rocks, and be converted into carbonates, sulphates, 
and humates. A larger amount of organic matter would also 
be converted into humus. Now, limestone soils are of all 
others most favorable to vegetation, when there is a sufficient 
supply of organic matter. Hence every successive change 
becomes more and more adapted for animals and plants, be- 
cause the lime and the organic matter in a state favorable for 
their support have been increasing ; and the present state of 
the surface is more favorable than any conditions which have 
preceded it, and accordingly it is peopled with more perfect 
and more numerous organic natures. Can we doubt but that, 
if another change passes over the earth, this same great prin- 
ciple of progressive improvement will be manifested in the 
renovated world ? I am not prepared to maintain, however, 
that this future change will be, like the past ones, an improve- 
ment as to soil and climate ; for the change, as Scripture 
teaches, will be accomplished by fire ; and so different will be 
the state of existence in the new earth, wherein dwelleth 
righteousness, that we cannot say how far the present system 
of nature will be introduced. But that it will be an improved 
condition, we can hardly doubt, if we infer any thing from the 
splendid figures by which it is described in the Bible, and 
from the character of those who are to be its denizens. 

Some of the facts of modern astronomy impress us with the 



466 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

idea that this principle of progress may extend to other worlds. 
Some of these are in a gaseous state, some condensed into 
fiery liquid globes, some covered with a crust of solidified 
volcanic matter, and some surrounded by a liquid, like water. 
Do not these facts justify the supposition, that the changes 
which our earth has undergone are merely a single example 
of a great principle in God's government of the natural world ? 
If so, it presents the divine wisdom in an interesting aspect. 
We see the Deity employing the same matter for different 
purposes. Instead of creating it for one single economy of 
organic beings, he seems to have made it the theatre for the 
display of his benevolence through successive periods ; but at 
the same time not losing sight of the highest use he intended 
to make of it, by the introduction of rational and immortal 
natures upon it. Human wisdom would have pronounced this 
impossible ; but divine wisdom, prompted by divine benevo- 
lence, could accomplish it. 

Finally, geology discloses to us chemical change as a great 
animating, controlling, and conservative principle of the mate- 
rial universe. 

When Newton brought to light the principle of gravitation, 
and showed how it controls and keeps in harmonious move- 
ment the heavenly bodies, he developed the great mechanical 
power by which the universe is governed. And this power 
was supposed for a long time to be superior to all others. 
But geology has brought out a second great controlling and 
conservative agency, — the chemical power, — "the second 
right hand of the Creator," as Dr. McCulloch expressively 
calls it. Suppose matter under the control of gravity, and let 
it be balanced by a centrifugal force. You have, indeed, har- 
monious motions among the celestial bodies, and, if no dis- 
turbing cause come in, you have endless motion. But until 



CHEMICAL CHANGE A CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLE. 467 

you introduce chemical agencies, every thing in the individual 
worlds would be compacted by gravity into one dead mass of 
matter, destined to no resurrection. But let chemical agen- 
cies leaven that mass, let affinity and cohesion commence 
their segregating processes, and constant motion and change 
would follow, with a thousand new and splendid forms. Es- 
pecially when the Deity had infused the living principle into 
portions of that matter, and put chemistry, and her handmaid 
electricity, under the control of the vital power, would these 
worlds teem with animation, and countless exhibitions of 
beauty. 

And in all known worlds, these chemical changes are at 
work unceasingly. We know not whether those worlds are 
all inhabited, but we have evidence that all are undergoing 
the transmutations of chemistry ; not on their surface merely, 
but in their deep interior. The consequence is, universal 
change ; change often upon a vast scale ; change extending 
through thousands and millions of years, and through the en- 
tire mass of immense worlds. We have glanced, in these lec- 
tures, at the most important of those changes which this world 
has undergone, and we have seen it to be almost universal. 
We have found that the entire crust of the globe, many miles 
in thickness, and probably to its centre, has been dissolved by 
heat, and much of it also by water ; that a large part of it, at 
least, has, by the same chemistry, been made to constitute por- 
tions of the animal frame ; that, even now, much of its interior 
is held in igneous solution, and that probably the time was 
when its entire mass was a molten, self-luminous world. In- 
deed, the conjecture is not without some foundation, which 
carries back this chemical action one step farther, and makes 
the world originally a diffused mass of nebula. 

At this point of the argument, geology appeals to astronomy, 



468 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

to show how widely this principle of chemical change 
has operated, and still operates, in the universe. We look 
first at the nebulas ; for here we probably find matter in its 
most chaotic and attenuated form, constituting self-luminous, 
diffused masses of vapor. In some of them, however, that 
matter has begun to condense, doubtless by the radiation of 
its heat. In the comets, we find probably similar matter, 
some of it still farther advanced in the process of condensa- 
tion, so that perhaps a nearly solid nucleus may exist. In 
the sun and fixed stars, the condensation has gone on so far 
that cohesive attraction begins to operate, the latent heat of 
the vapor is extricated, and melted luminous worlds are the 
result. Around them, however, there probably still floats a 
wide atmosphere of the more elastic materials, which the heat 
dissipates, of which the zodiacal light, perhaps, furnishes us 
with an example. The nebulosity which surrounds the aste- 
roids, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, and Astrea, renders it proba- 
ble that, though they have advanced so far in the process of 
refrigeration as to become opaque, they may still retain heat 
enough to dissipate much of their substance. Still farther 
advanced towards the condition of a habitable world is the 
moon ; and yet volcanic desolation covers its surface. Not 
improbably Jupiter is nearly surrounded with a fluid like 
water, and Saturn by a fluid lighter than water — being still 
farther advanced towards the condition of the earth. 

I acknowledge that these are but slight glimpses of the 
geology and chemistry of other worlds. And yet, taken in 
connection with the geological history of our own globe, do 
they not furnish us with some extremely probable examples 
of those changes to which our earth has been subject ? They 
show us that worlds may exist in the form of vapor, and that 
some are actually at this time in the various conditions through 



CHEMICAL CHANGES IN A CYCLE. 469 

which geology supposes this world to have passed. Do we 
not, in these examples, gather strong intimations of a great 
law of chemical change in the universe ? Gaseous matter, 
so far as we know, appears to have been the earliest state of 
the universe ; and then, by the agency of heat, it passes 
through the successive changes of liquid and solid, which have 
been described. 

The chemical changes that take place on the earth, under 
our immediate cognizance, through the agency of water, usu- 
ally proceed, under favorable circumstances, in a cycle ; that 
is, the substance, after passing through a series of changes, 
returns at length into the same condition from which it started. 
Thus aqueous vapor, by the loss of heat, is first converted 
into water, next into ice, and then, by the access of heat, into 
water again, and at last into vapor. The question naturally 
arises, whether those mutations, through which worlds are 
passing, may not form a similar cycle. We are able to trace 
them through several steps, from gaseous to liquid, and from 
the liquid to the solid ; and we are assured, on the testimony 
of Scripture, that the next change of the earth will be from 
solid to liquid. And in those stars which in past ages have 
suddenly broken forth with remarkable splendor, and then 
disappeared, may we not have examples of other worlds burnt 
up, — not annihilated, — but deluged by fire, and either dissi- 
pated or again cooled ? What changes, if any, will succeed 
the final conflgration of the globe, neither science nor revela- 
tion informs us. 

Yet, if the laws of nature respecting heat are not entirely 
altered, other changes must follow ; and we have seen, in a 
former lecture, that those changes are perfectly consistent 
with our ideas of heaven, and that they may, in fact, enhance 
the happiness of heaven. They may go on forever ; in which 
40 



470 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

case, we can hardly doubt but they would form a cycle, though 
how wide the circuit we cannot conjecture ; or they may, at 
least, reach an unchanging state. I confess, however, that 
the idea of perpetual change corresponds best with the analo- 
gies of the existing universe ; and in eternity, as well as in 
time, it may form an essential element of happiness. 

In this world, too, this unceasing change, though it presents 
at first view a strong tendency to ruin, is, in fact, the grand 
conservative principle of material things. In a world of life 
and motion like ours, it is impossible that bodies, especially 
organic bodies, should not be sometimes subject to violent dis- 
arrangements and destruction from the mechanical agencies 
which exist ; and were no chemical changes possible, ultimate 
and irremediable ruin must be the result. But the chemical 
powers, inherent in matter, soon bring forth new forms of 
beauty from the ruins ; and, in fact, throughout all nature, 
the process of renovation usually counterbalances that of de- 
struction ; and thus far, indeed, the former has done more 
than this ; for every time nature has changed her dress in past 
ages, she has put on more lovely robes, and a fresher counte- 
nance. Can we doubt that this same principle of change, 
operating, as it does, on a stupendous scale through the uni- 
verse, is one of the great means of its preservation ? It seems, 
indeed, paradoxical to say that instability is the basis of sta- 
bility. But I see not why it is not literally true ; and I can 
hardly doubt but this principle is superior to the laws of grav- 
ity — superior to every other law, in fact, for giving perma- 
nence and security to the universe. 

It is true that, in the case of man, connected as diminution 
and decay are with the curse denounced on sin, they as- 
sume, in his view, a melancholy aspect ; and the perishable 



CHANGE A BASIS OF STABILITY. 471 

nature of all created things has ever been viewed by the sen- 
timentalist with sad emotions. 

" What does not fade ? The tower that long had stood 
The crush of thunder, and the warring winds, 
Shook by the slow but sure destroyer Time, 
Now hangs in doubtful ruins o'er its base ; 
And flinty pyramids and walls of brass 
Descend ; the Babylonian spires are sunk ; 
Achaia, Rome, and Egypt moulder down. 
Time shakes the stable tyranny of thrones ; 
And tottering empires rush by their own weight. 
This huge rotundity we tread grows old, 
And all those worlds that roll around the sun. 
The sun himself shall die, and ancient night 
Again involve the desolate abyss." — Akenside. 

If we turn now our thoughts away from man's dissolution, 
and think how speedily chemical power will raise nature out 
of her grave, in renovated and increased beauty, this univer- 
sal tendency to decay puts on the aspect of a glorious trans- 
formation. We connect the changes around us with those 
which have taken place in the great bodies of the universe ; 
we see them all to be but parts of a far-reaching plan of the 
Deity, by which the stability of the world is maintained, and 
its progressive improvement secured. When we look for- 
ward, fancy kindles at the developments of divine power, 
wisdom, and benevolence which will in this manner be made 
in the round of eternal ages. We see that what our ignorance 
had mistaken for a defect in nature is, in fact, a great con- 
servative principle of the universe, which Newton did not 
discover because geology had not yet unfolded her record. 

Such are the developments of the divine character and 
plans unfolded to us by geology. Compare them now with 



472 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 

the views which have hitherto prevailed. The common opin- 
ion has been, and still, indeed, is, that about six thousand 
years ago this earth, and, in fact, the whole material universe, 
were spoken into existence in a moment of time ; and that, 
in a few thousand more, they will, by a similar fiat, be swept 
from existence, and be no more. On the other hand, geology 
places the time when the matter of the universe was created 
out of nothing at an epoch indefinitely but immensely remote. 
Since that epoch, this matter has passed through a multitude 
of changes, and been the seat of numerous systems of or- 
ganic life, unlike one another, yet all linked together into one 
great system by a most perfect unity ; each minor system 
being most beautifully adapted to its place in the great chain, 
and yet each successive link becoming more and more per- 
fect. Nor does geology admit that any evidence exists of 
the future annihilation of the material universe ; but rather 
of other changes, by. which new and brighter displays of 
divine wisdom and benevolence shall be brought out, it may 
be in endless succession. Geology is not, indeed, insensible 
to the displays of the divine character which are exhibited on 
the present theatre of the world. Indeed, she distinctly rec- 
ognizes the act which is now passing as the most perfect of 
all. Yet this scene of the great drama she regards as only 
one of the units of a similar series of changes that have gone 
by or will hereafter come ; the chain stretching so far into 
the eternity that is past and the eternity that is to come, that 
the extremities are lost to mortal vision. 

Do any shrink back from these immense conclusions, be- 
cause they so much surpass the views they have been accus- 
tomed to entertain respecting the beginning and the end of 
the material universe ? But why should they be unwilling to 
have geology liberalize their minds as much in uspect to 



THESE VIEWS CONSISTENT WITH REVELATION. 473 

duration as astronomy has done in respect to space ? Perhaps 
it is a lingering fear that the geological views conflict with 
revelation. Such fears formerly kept back many from giving 
up their souls to the noble truths of astronomy. But they 
learnt, at length, that astronomy merely illustrates, and does 
not oppose, revelation. It showed men how to understand 
certain passages of sacred writ respecting the earth and 
heavenly bodies which they had before misinterpreted. Just 
so is it with geology. There is no collision between its state- 
ments and revelation. It only enables us more correctly to 
interpret some portions of the Bible ; and then, when we 
have admitted the new interpretation, it brings a flood of 
light upon the plans and attributes of Jehovah. Geology, 
therefore, should be viewed, as it really is, the auxiliary both 
of natural and revealed religion. And when its religious 
relations are fully understood, theology, I doubt not, will be 
as anxious to cultivate its alliance as she has been fearful of 
it in days past. 

" Shall it any longer be said," remarks Dr. Buckland, " that 
a science which unfolds such abundant evidence of the being 
and attributes of God, can reasonably be viewed in any other 
light than as the efficient auxiliary and handmaid of religion ? 
Some few there still may be whom timidity, or prejudice, or 
want of opportunity, allow not to examine its evidence ; who 
are alarmed by the novelty, or surprised by the magnitude 
and extent, of the views which geology forces on their atten- 
tion ; and who would rather have kept closed the volume of 
witness which has been sealed up for ages beneath the sur- 
face of the earth than to impose on the student in natural 
theology the duty of studying its contents — a duty in which, 
for lack of experience, they may anticipate a hazardous c 
laborious task, but which, by those engaged in it, is found to 
40* 



474 THE VAST PLANS 0E JEHOVAH. 

be a rational, and righteous, and delightful exercise of the 
highest faculties in multiplying the evidence of the existence, 
and attributes, and providence of God. The alarm, however, 
which was excited by the novelty of its first discoveries, has 
well nigh passed away ; and those to whom it has been per- 
mitted to be the humble instruments of their promulgation, 
and who have steadily persevered, under the firm conviction 
that ' truth can never be opposed to truth,' and that the works 
of God, when rightly understood, and viewed in their true 
relations, and from a right position, would at length be found 
to be in perfect accordance with his word, are now receiving 
their high reward in finding difficulties vanish, objections grad- 
ually withdrawn, and in seeing the evidences of geology ad- 
mitted into the list of witnesses to the truth of the great fun- 
damental doctrines of theology." — Bridgewater Treatise, 
vol. i. p. 593. 

Such, then, in conclusion of the subject, is the religion of 
geology. It has been described as a region divided between 
the barren mountains of scepticism and the putrid fens and 
quagmires of infidelity and atheism ; producing only a gloomy 
and a poisonous vegetation ; covered with fogs, and swept 
over by pestilential blasts. But this report was made by those 
who saw it at a distance. We have found it to be a land 
abounding in rich landscapes, warmed by a bright sun, blest 
with a balmy atmosphere, covered by noble forests and sweet 
flowers, with fruits savory and healthful. We have ascended 
its lofty mountains, and there have we been greeted with 
prospects of surpassing loveliness and overwhelming sublim- 
ity. In short, nowhere in the whole world of science do we 
find regions where more of the Deity is seen in his works. 
To him whose heart is warmed by true piety, and whose 
mind has broken the narrow shell of prejudice, and can grasp 



GEOLOGY UNVEILS PROVIDENCE. 475 

noble thoughts, these are delightful fields through which to 
wander. More and more they must become the favorite 
haunts of such hearts and such minds. For there do views 
open upon the soul, respecting the character and plans of the 
Deity, as large and refreshing as those which astronomy pre- 
sents. Nay, in their practical bearing, these views are far 
more important. Mechanical philosophy introduces an un- 
bending and unvarying law between the Creator and his 
works ; but geology unveils his providential hand, cutting 
asunder that law at intervals, and planting the seeds of a new 
economy upon a renovated world. We thus seem to be 
brought into near communion with the infinite mind. We are 
prepared to listen to his voice when it speaks in revelation. 
We recognize his guiding and sustaining agency at every 
step of our pilgrimage. And we await in confident hope and 
joyful anticipation those sublime manifestations of his charac- 
ter and plans, and those higher enjoyments which will greet 
the pure soul in the round of eternal ages. 



(476) 



LECTURE XIV. 

SCIENTIFIC TRUTH, RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD, IS RELI- 
GIOUS TRUTH. 

The connection between science and religion has ever been 
a subject of .deep interest to enlightened and reflecting minds. 
Too often, however, up to the present time, has the theologian, 
on the one hand, looked with jealousy upon science, fearful 
that its influence was hurtful to the cause of true religion ; 
while, on the other hand, the philosopher, in the pride of a 
sceptical spirit, has scorned an alliance between science and 
theology, and even fancied many a discrepancy. Both these 
opinions are erroneous ; and disastrously have they operated, 
as well upon science as upon religion. The position which I 
take, and which I shall endeavor to maintain, is, that scientific 
truth, rightly understood, is religious truth. 

The proposition may be misunderstood at its first announce- 
ment, but I hope, ere its examination be finished, to satisfy 
you that it is true ; and if so, that it ought to reconcile reli- 
gion to science, and science to religion. 

In arriving at correct conclusions concerning this statement, 
much will depend on the meaning which we attach to the 
phrase religious truth. Religion is properly defined to be 
piety towards God. This piety implies two things : first, a 
correct knowledge of God ; and secondly, the exercise of 
proper affections in view of that knowledge. The former 
constitutes the theoretic part of religion, and is investigated 



DEFINITIONS. 477 

solely by the understanding. The latter constitutes the prac- 
tical part of religion, and depends much upon the will, the 
heart, or the moral powers of man. All truth, therefore, 
which illustrates the divine character or government, or which 
tends to produce right affections towards God, is properly de- 
nominated religious truth. If, then, I can show that all sci- 
entific truth, rightly understood, has one or both of these 
effects, it will follow that it is strictly religious truth. 

Scientific truth is but another name for the laws of nature. 
And a law of nature is merely the uniform mode in which the 
Deity operates in the created universe. It follows, then, that 
science is only a history of the divine operations in matter 
and mind. 

In order to avoid mistake, we must make a distinction be- 
tween the principles of science, and the application of those 
principles to the useful arts of life. The principles themselves 
are an illustration of the divine wisdom and benevolence, but 
their application to the arts illustrates the ingenuity and wis- 
dom of man. At the most, therefore, the latter only indirectly 
and remotely exhibits the character of the Deity, while the 
former directly shows forth his perfections. 

I now proceed to establish my general proposition, by show- 
ing, in the first place, that all scientific truth is adapted to 
prove the existence or to illustrate the perfections of the Deity. 

After all that has been written on the subject of natural 
theology, by such men as Newintyt, Hay, Derham, Wollas- 
ton, Clarke, Butler, Tucker, Paley, Chalmers, Crombie, 
Brown, Brougham, Harris, M'Cosh, and the authors of the 
Bridgewater Treatises, I need not surely go into details to 
prove that science in general is a great storehouse of facts to 
illustrate the divine perfections and government. It is, in- 
deed, a vast repository, from which materials have been 



478 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

drawn on which to build the argument for the divine existence 
and character. Efforts have been made, it is true, in mod- 
ern times, to show that the whole argument from design is 
inconclusive. It is said, that though the operations of nature 
seem to show design and contrivance, they need no higher 
powers than those that exist in nature itself. They do not 
prove the existence of an independent personal agent, sepa- 
rate from the material world. Animals, and even plant's, pos- 
sess an inherent power of adapting themselves to circum- 
stances ; and may not a higher exercise of this same power 
explain all the operations of nature without any other Deity ? 

This argument appears to me to be utterly set aside by the 
following considerations : In the first place, there is no power 
inherent in vegetable or animal natures which can properly 
be called the power of contrivance and design, except so far 
as it exists in their minds. All other examples show merely 
the operation of impulse, or instinct, and will not at all ex- 
plain that wide-reaching contrivance and design which cause 
all the operations of nature to conspire to certain great results, 
and to constitute one, and only one, great system. In the sec- 
ond place, the operations of intellect furnish us with the only 
examples in nature of that kind of contrivance and design 
which must have arranged and adapted the parts of the uni- 
verse. But in the third place, no intellect, within our knowl- 
edge, is capacious enough to have contrived and arranged the 
universe. Indeed, to the capacity of that mind which could 
have done this we can assign no limits, and, therefore, infer it 
to be infinite. In other words, we infer the existence of the 
Deity. In the fourth place, the whole force of this argument 
rests upon the supposed uniformity of nature. For no one 
imagines that there exists at present, in nature, any power of 
contrivance and design sufficient to work a miracle ; in other 



PROOF OF THE DIVINE EXISTENCE. 479 

words, te introduce new races of animals and plants. " Could 
this uniformity once be broken up," says an ingenious exposi- 
tor of this atheistic argument, " could this rigid order be once 
infringed for a good and manifest reason, it would change the 
whole face of the argument. Could we see the sun stand still 
in heaven, that the wicked might be overthrown, then should 
we be assured of a personal power with a distinct will, whose 
agents and ministers these laws were. Such an event would 
be a miracle. But if such events have happened, they are not 
a part of nature ; it is not nature that tells us of them, and it 
is only with her that we are at present concerned." — Presi- 
dent Hopkins, Quarterly Observer, Oct. 1833, p. 309. 

Geology, however, does reveal to us miracles of stupen- 
dous import, miracles of creation, which infinite power and 
wisdom alone could have produced. Hence, if the testimony 
of that science be admitted, this reasoning can no longer stand 
the test of examination, and it must be acknowledged that the 
argument for God's existence from design, which has ever 
been so satisfactory to every mind not clouded by metaphys- 
ics, is left standing on an immovable foundation. 

To return to the point from which we started : it is not 
necessary, I say, to go into a detailed examination of each 
particular science, and show how its principles prove and 
illustrate the being and attributes of the Deity, for the work 
has already been done more ably and thoroughly than I can 
do it, and admitted by all, save the few who reject the argu- 
ment from design altogether. There are a few sciences, 
however, which have been hitherto chiefly passed by, because 
they were not supposed capable of throwing any light of con- 
sequence upon theology. Let us see whether these sciences 
are as barren of religious interest as has been supposed. 

Geology is a branch of knowledge, which, a few years ago, 



480 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

would have been at once selected as not only destitute of any 
important religious applications, but as of a positively injurious 
tendency ; and even now, such is the feeling probably of a 
majority of the religious world. True, it touches religion, 
natural and revealed, at many points ; but so novel and star- 
tling are its conclusions, that they are thought to unsettle more 
minds than they confirm. They fall in with many of the 
views of scepticism, and especially confirm its doubts con- 
cerning the age of the world, and compel the religious man 
to give up long-cherished opinions upon this point, and on 
other collateral subjects. But we have gone into a careful 
examination of the religious applications of this science, and 
have we not found it most fertile in its illustrations both of 
natural and revealed religion ? Let us just recapitulate the 
conclusions at which we have arrived. 

In the first place, geology furnishes important illustrations 
of revealed religion. It confirms the statement that the pres- 
ent continents of our globe were once, and for an indefinite 
time, beneath the ocean, and that they were subsequently 
lifted above the waters by internal agencies. It agrees with 
revelation in making water and heat the two great agents of 
geological change upon and within the earth, and that the 
work of creation, after the production of matter, was pro- 
gressive. It shows us equally with revelation, that the existing 
races of animals and plants on the globe were created at a 
comparatively recent epoch, and that man commenced his 
existence not more than six thousand years ago. It shows us, 
also, that the earth contains within itself the volcanic agency 
necessary for its future destruction by combustion, as de- 
scribed in the Bible. 

But, perhaps, the most important illustration of revealed 
truth, which geology affords, is the light which it casts upon 



ILLUSTRATION OF THE BIBLE. 481 

certain passages of the Bible relating to the creation. As 
those texts which represent the earth as immovable, and the 
heavenly bodies as moving diurnally around it, were not rightly 
understood, until astronomy had discovered the true theory of 
the solar system, so those passages which relate to the period 
of the creation of the universe, the introduction of death into 
the world, and the extent and operation of the deluge, were 
misinterpreted till geology disclosed their true meaning. It 
is still customary, indeed, to speak of geology and revelation 
as in collision with each other on these subjects ; but this is a 
false view of the case. Revelation is illustrated, not opposed, 
by geology. Who thinks, at this day, of any discrepancy 
between astronomy and revelation ? And yet, two hundred 
years ago, the evidence of such discrepancy was far more 
striking than any which can now be offered to show geology 
at variance with the Scriptures. We ought, therefore, to look 
upon that science as illustrating, instead of opposing, the 
Scriptures. 

Having once admitted the conclusions of geology as to the 
great age of the world, and a flood of light is shed upon some 
of the most difficult points both of natural and revealed reli- 
gion. It shows the occurrence of numerous changes on the 
globe which nothing but the power of God could have pro- 
duced, and which in fact were most- striking and stupendous 
miracles. Hence the arguments which have so long been 
employed to show that the world is eternal are rendered nu- 
gatory ; for if we can point to epochs when entire races of 
animals and plants began to exist on the globe, we prove the 
agency of a Deity quite as strikingly as if we could show the 
moment when the matter of the world was summoned into 
existence out of nothing. In the same manner, also, we si- 
lence the argument against the giving of a revelation from 
41 



482 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

heaven, as well as the miracles by which it is substantiated, 
on the ground that we have no example of a special interfer- 
ence with the established course of nature. Here we have 
interpositions long anterior to man's existence, as well as by 
his creation, which take away all improbability from those 
which are implied in a revelation. We hence likewise estab- 
lish the doctrine of a special providence over the world — a 
doctrine proved with great difficulty by any other reasoning 
of natural theology. 

Still more abundant is the evidence derived from geology 
of the divine benevolence. And this evidence comes mostly 
from the operations and final effect of the most desolating 
agencies, heretofore regarded as a proof of malevolence^ or, 
at least, of vindictive justice ; and we may reasonably infer, 
that could we look through the whole system of divine govern- 
ment, we should find that all evil is only a necessary means 
of the greatest good. 

No one can examine existing nature without being con- 
vinced that all its parts and operations belong to one great 
system. Geology makes other economies of wide extent to 
pass before us, opening a vista indefinitely backward into the 
hoary past ; and it is gratifying to witness that same unity of 
design pervading all preceding periods of the world's history, 
linking the whole into one mighty scheme, worthy its infinite 
Contriver. 

How much, also, does this science enlarge our conceptions 
of the plans and operations of Jehovah ! We had been ac- 
customed to limit our views of the creative agency of God to 
the few thousand years of man's existence, and to anticipate 
the destruction of the material universe in a few thousand 
years more. But geology makes the period of man's exist- 
ence on the globe only one short link of a chain of revolutions 



MATHEMATICAL LAWS. 483 

which preceded his existence, and which reaches forward im- 
measurably far into the future. We see the same matter in 
the hands of infinite wisdom, and by means of the great con- 
servative principle of chemical change, passing through a 
multitude of stupendous revolutions, sustaining countless and 
varied forms of organic life, and presenting an almost illim- 
itable panorama of the plans of an infinite God. 

If such is the fruit which geology pours into the lap of re- 
ligion, how misunderstood have been its principles ! In many 
a mind there is still an anxious fear lest its discoveries should 
prove unfavorable to religion ; and they would feel greatly 
relieved could they only be assured that no influence injurious 
to piety would emanate from that science. But we can give 
them far more than this assurance. We can draw from this 
science more to illustrate and confirm religion than from any 
other ; and we believe that the history of the past justifies the 
general conclusion, that those sciences whose early develop- 
ments excited most apprehensions of a collision with religion, 
have ultimately furnished the most abundant illustrations of 
its principles. 

Another science regarded as barren of religious applica- 
tions, and even as sometimes positively injurious, is mathe- 
matics. Its principles are, indeed, of so abstruse a nature, 
that it is not easy to frame out of jhem a religious argument 
that is capable of popular illustration. But, in fact, mathe- 
matical laws form the basis of nearly all the operations of 
nature. They constitute, as it were, the very framework of 
the material world. When we look up to the heavenly bodies, 
we see them directed and controlled, along with the earth, by 
those laws, which vary not, by an iota, from century to cen- 
tury. The infinity of changes, which are going on in the 
constitution of bodies upon and within the earth, chemistry 



484 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

reduces to mathematical laws. So far as organic operations 
depend upon chemical changes, — and this is very far, — 
mathematics is the controlling power. I will not say, that life 
and intellect are in a strict sense under the guidance of math- 
ematics ; and yet I doubt not that their operations are limited 
and controlled by its principles. Confident am I that atmos- 
pheric changes, apparently quite as anomalous and irregular 
as the movements of the vital and intellectual principles, rest 
on mathematics as certainly as do the revolutions of the heav- 
enly bodies. 

It seems, then, that this science forms the very foundation 
of all arguments for Theism, from the arrangements and oper- 
ations of the material universe. We do, indeed, neglect the 
foundation, and point only to the superstructure, when we 
state these arguments. But suppose mathematical laws to be 
at once struck from existence, and what a hideous chaos 
would the universe present ! What then would become of 
the marks of design and unity in nature, and of the Theist's 
argument for the being of a God ? 

But mathematical principles furnish several interesting illus- 
trations of truth, of no small importance. In a former lecture, 
we have seen how the doctrine of miracles stands forth com- 
pletely vindicated by an appeal to mathematical laws ; how, in 
fact, they might have formed a part of the original plan of the 
universe, when first it was conceived in the divine mind, and 
how their occurrence may be as much the result of a fixed law 
as the most common operations of nature ; so that in this way 
all improbability of their occurrence, on the ground that nature 
is constant, is removed. These views are illustrated in that 
singular, yet original work of Professor Babbage, called the 
" Ninth Bridgewater Treatise," a work written, it is true, in 
part, under the influence of exasperated feelings, but yet full 



THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. 485 

of original and ingenious suggestions. But these views have 
been so fully presented in the Lecture on Special and Mirac- 
ulous Providence, and in that upon the Telegraphic System 
of the Universe, that they need not here be repeated. 

Mathematics, also, aids our conceptions of truths of religion 
difficult or impossible, from their nature, of being understood 
by finite beings. All the attributes of the Deity, being infi- 
nite, are of this description. But it seems to me that the 
contemplation of a mathematical series, either increasing or 
decreasing, gives us the strongest apprehension of infinity 
which we can attain. It puts into our hands a thread by 
which we can find our way, as far as our powers will carry 
us, towards infinity. True, after we have followed the series 
till the mind stops exhausted, we are no nearer infinity than 
when we started ; yet we do get most deeply impressed with 
the unfathomableness of the abyss that separates the finite from 
the infinite. 

To many minds all statements of the biblical doctrine of 
the Trinity appear so absurd and contradictory as to be inca- 
pable of belief. Yet let it be stated to a man, for the first 
time, that two lines may approach each other forever without 
meeting, and it must appear equally absurd. But after you 
have demonstrated to him the properties of the hyperbola and 
its asymptote, the apparent absurdity vanishes. So, when the 
theologian has stated, that by the divine unity he means only 
a numerical unity, — in other words, that there is but one Su- 
preme Being, and that the three persons of the Godhead are 
one in this sense, and three only in those respects not incon- 
sistent with this unity, — every philosophical mind, whether it 
admits that the Scriptures teach this doctrine or not, must see 
that there is no absurdity or contradiction in it. And thus it 
may happen, that the solution of a man's difficulties on this 
41* 



486 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

subject may come from a proposition of conic sections, as m 
fact we know to have been the case. 

It is said, however, that mathematicians have been unusu- 
ally prone to scepticism concerning religious truth. If it \e 
so, it probably originates from the absurd attempt to apply 
mathematical reasoning to moral subjects ; or, rather, the devo- 
tees of this science often become so attached to its demonstra- 
tions, that they will not admit any evidence of a less certain 
character. They do not realize the total difference between 
moral and mathematical reasonings, and absurdly endeavor to 
stretch religion on the Procrustean bed of mathematics. No 
wonder they become sceptics. But the fault is in themselves, 
not in this science, whose natural tendencies, upon a pure and 
exalted mind, are favorable to religion, because its principles 
illustrate religion. 

There are several other sciences, whose earlier develop- 
ments were supposed for a time to be unfavorable to religion ; 
and hence has originated a ground of apprehension respecting 
science generally. When the Copernican system of astron- 
omy was introduced, it was thought impossible ever to recon- 
cile it to the plain declarations of Scripture ; and hence at 
least one venerable astronomer was obliged to recant that 
system upon his knees. Similar fears of collision between 
science and revelation were excited when chemistry announced 
that the main part of the earth has already been oxidized, and, 
therefore, could not hereafter be literally burnt. Because 
some physiologists have been materialists, it has been inferred 
that physiology was favorable to materialism. But it is now 
found that they were materialists in spite of physiology, rather 
than from a correct interpretation of its facts. 

Strong apprehensions have also been excited respecting 
phrenology and mesmerism. And, indeed, in their present 



PHRENOLOGY AND MESMERISM. 487 

aspect, these sciences are probably made to exert a more un- 
friendly influence upon vital religion than any other. Those 
who profess to understand and teach them have been, for 
the most part, decided opponents of special providence and 
special grace, and many of them materialists. But this is not 
because there are any special grounds for such opinions in 
phrenology or mesmerism. The latter branch, indeed, affords 
such decided proofs of immaterialism, as to have led several 
able materialists to change their views. Nor does phrenology 
afford any stronger proof that law governs the natural world, 
than do the other sciences. But when a man who is sceptical 
becomes deeply interested in any branch of knowledge, and 
fancies himself to be an oracle respecting it, he will torture 
its principles till they are made to give testimony in favor of 
his previous sceptical views, although, in fact, the tones are 
as unnatural as those of ventriloquism, and as deceptive. 
When true philosophy shall at length determine what are the 
genuine principles of phrenology and mesmerism, we can 
judge of their bearing upon religion ; but the history of other 
sciences shows us that we need have no fears of any col- 
lision, when the whole subject is brought fairly into the 
daylight. 

Upon the whole, every part of science, which has been 
supposed, by the fears of friends or malice of foes, to con- 
flict with religion, has been found, at length, when fully under- 
stood, to be in perfect harmony with its principles, and even 
to illustrate them. It is high time, therefore, for the friends 
of religion to cease fearing any injury to the cause of religion 
from science ; and high time, also, for the enemies of religion 
to cease expecting any such collision. 

In conclusion of this argument, we may safely challenge 
any one to point out a single principle of science which does 



488 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

not in some way illustrate the perfections of the Deity ; and 
if he cannot, scientific truth may be appropriately called re- 
ligious truth, especially since such illustrations are the highest 
use to which science can be applied. It is no drawback on 
the argument because so few make this use of science, nor 
because some attempt to array science against religion ; for 
this only shows how men may neglect the most important use 
to which science can be applied, or how they can pervert the 
richest gifts. 

I derive a second argument in support of the general posi- 
tion, that scientific truth is religious truth, from the fact that 
it will survive the present world, and its examination become 
apart of the employments and enjoyments of heaven. 

The Scriptures are, indeed, sparing in their details of the 
specific employments of the heavenly world, except so far as 
worship and praise are concerned. But that worship will un- 
doubtedly be the spontaneous impulse of the heart, (as it is in 
this world when acceptable,) in view of some manifestations 
of the divine character. Accordingly, the first sentence of the 
future song of Moses and the Lamb, as the saints stand with 
the harps of God upon the sea of glass, is, Great and marvel- 
lous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. The works of God, 
then, will be studied in the future world ; and what is that but 
the study of the sciences ? It is, indeed, said by the apostle, 
that whether there be tongues, they shall cease, [that is, in a fu- 
ture world ;] whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away ; 
and hence it has sometimes been inferred that all the knowl- 
edge which we acquire in this world will disappear with this 
world. But this cannot be the meaning of the passage, for 
in a variety of places the Bible represents both the righteous 
and wicked in another world as conscious of what took place 
on earth ; and, unless the nature of the mind be changed at 



ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 489 

death, it is not possible to conceive that the knowledge we 
acquire here should be lost. This passage may refer to one 
of those gifts of inspiration peculiar to apostolic times, called 
by the sacred writer the word of knowledge. But more prob- 
ably he meant to teach that, so much brighter and clearer will 
be the disclosures of another world, that most of our present 
knowledge will be eclipsed and forgotten. But this does not 
imply that our future knowledge will be essentially different 
in nature from that which we acquire on earth. The grand 
difference is, that now we see through a glass darkly, hut then 
face to face. 

We can, also, see why some branches of science cultivated 
on earth should be very much modified in a future world. 
There are several, for instance, dependent mainly upon the 
present organic constitution of nature ; and of such branches 
only the general principles can survive the destruction of the 
existing framework of animals and plants. Take, for an ex- 
ample, anatomy and physiology. We believe, indeed, that 
the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, will be mate- 
rial, and that the bodies of men will also be material. But 
even though these bodies should be organized, we learn from 
the Scriptures that this organization will be very different 
from our present bodies. They, says Christ, who shall be 
accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection 
from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, 
neither can they die any more ; for they are equal unto the 
angels. Paul's vivid description of the future spiritual body 
leaves the impression on the mind that it must be very dis- 
similar to our present bodies. He does not attempt to define 
the spiritual body, probably because we could not understand 
the definition, since it would be so unlike any thing on earth. 
He represents it as .incorruptible, powerful, and glorious, 



490 SCIENTIFIC -TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

entirely in contrast with our present bodies, and declares 
that it is not flesh and blood, and that it is not organized like 
our present bodies. 

It seems, then, that we have no certain evidence that the 
future spiritual body will be organized ; and in a former lec- 
ture we have seen that it is not necessary to suppose it en- 
dowed with organs. If not, it is obvious that the sciences of 
anatomy and physiology can have no existence in a future 
world, except in the memory. On the other hand, however, 
there are some things in Paul's description of the future body 
that make it quite probable that its organization will be much 
more exquisite than any thing in existence on earth. He 
represents it as springing from our present bodies as a germ 
from a seed ; and this would seem to imply organization ; 
though we must not infer too much from a mere rhetorical 
similitude. But he also represents the spiritual body as far 
transcending the natural body in glory and in power ; and, 
since the latter is fearfully and wonderfully made, we know 
of nothing but the most exquisite organization that can give 
the spiritual body such a superiority over the natural. Ad- 
mitting that such will be its structure, and, although the 
nomenclature of anatomy and physiology, which is adapted 
to flesh and blood, shall pass away and be forgotten, yet 
analogous sciences shall be substituted, based on facts and 
principles far more interesting, and developing relations and 
harmonies far more beautiful. It may be thought, indeed, 
that, so different will be these sciences from any thing on 
earth, that there can be no common principles and no link of 
connection. But the longer a man studies the works of God, 
the more inclined will he be to regard the universe, material 
and immaterial, as founded on eternal principles ; as, in fact, 
a transcript of the divine nature ; and that all the changes in 



BOTANY. 491 

nature are only new developments of unchanging funda- 
mental laws, not the introduction of new laws. Hence the 
philosopher would infer that in existing nature we have the 
prototype of new heavens and a new earth ; and although 
a future condition of things may be as different from the 
present as the plant is from the seed out of which it springs, 
still, as the seed contains the embryo of a future plant, so the 
future world may, as it were, lie coiled up in the present. If 
in these suggestions there is any truth, there may be a germ 
in the anatomy and physiology of the present world, which 
shall survive the destruction of the present economy, and un- 
fold, in far higher beauty and glory, in the more congenial 
climate of the new heavens and the new earth. If so, the 
great principles of these sciences which are acquired on 
earth, and which are so prolific in exhibitions of divine skill, 
may not prove to be lost knowledge. They shall be recog- 
nized as types of those far higher and richer developments 
of organization which the spiritual body shall exhibit. 

It may be still more difficult to show that such a science as 
botany will have a place in the new earth ; simply because 
we have no certain knowledge of the existence of vegetation 
there. We can infer nothing on this subject from the figura- 
tive representations of the new Jerusalem in Revelation, since 
the drapery is all derived from this world. But, on the gen- 
eral principle already stated, that the universe constitutes but 
one vast and harmonious system, and all the economies upon 
it, past, present, and future, are only different developments 
of eternal principles, this consideration, I say, should make 
us hesitate before we infer the annihilation of the vast vege- 
table kingdom upon the destruction of the present economy 
of the world. And it does give us an aspect of extreme bar- 
renness and cheerlessness to think of the new earth entirely 



492 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

swept of every thing analogous to the existing foliage, flowers, 
and fruits. We have attempted to show, however, in another 
place, that the spiritual body may be of such a nature that it 
might exist in a temperature so high, or so low, as to prevent 
the existence of such organic natures as now exist. But how 
easy for the Deity to create such natures as are adapted to 
extremes of temperature as wide as we now are acquainted 
with ; and that, too, on the same type as existing nature ; 
so that the new earth, while yet an incandescent, glowing 
ocean, might teem with animals and plants, organized on the 
same general principles as those of the present earth ! But 
there is another supposition. I have endeavored to show that 
change ever has been, and probably ever will be, one of the 
grand means by which mind is introduced to higher spheres 
of enjoyment ; and even though the new earth at first should 
be destitute of organic natures, both animal and vegetable, 
they might be introduced in successive and more perfect 
economies, as a means of increased happiness, especially 
to rational natures. These are, indeed, only conjectures ; 
but the balance of probabilities seems to me to incline the 
mind to the belief that there may be a botany as well as zool- 
ogy in the future world, far transcending their prototypes 
on earth. 

Among the things that we may be certain will pass away 
with the present world is the mode of communicating our 
ideas by language. This the apostle expressly declares when 
he says, Whether there be tongues, [that is, languages,] they 
shall cease. Now, the acquisition of languages, and the right 
use of language, or rhetoric and oratory, constitute a large 
part of what men call learning on earth. And the question 
is, whether there are any principles on which these branches 
of knowledge are based that will become the elements of new 



INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY. 493 

and higher modes of communicating thought in a future 
world. These branches are, indeed, rather to be regarded 
as arts than sciences. Language is the drapery for clothing 
our thoughts, and, unless we have thoughts to clothe, it be- 
comes useless ; and rhetoric and oratory merely show us how 
to arrange that drapery in the most attractive and impressive 
style. But there is such a thing as the philosophy of language 
and the philosophy of rhetoric, whose principles are derived 
chiefly from moral and intellectual philosophy. And these, 
we have reason to believe, are eternal. Different as will be 
the mode of communicating thoughts hereafter from the pres- 
ent, we shall find the same philosophical principles lying at its 
foundation. Hence we may expect that there will be a celes- 
tial language, a celestial rhetoric, and a celestial oratory, in 
whose beauty and splendor those of earth will be forgotten. 

I now proceed briefly to consider those sciences which, 
having little connection with material organization, we may 
more confidently maintain will have an existence on the 
new earth. 

It will be hardly necessary to spend much time in proving 
that intellectual philosophy will be one of the subjects of in- 
vestigation in a future world. For it would be strange if the 
noblest part of God's workmanship, for which materialism 
was created, should cease to be aji object of inquiry in that 
world where alone it can be investigated with much success. 
When we consider that the whole train of mental phenomena 
is constantly passing under the mind's own observation, and 
that a vast amount of time and talent has been devoted to 
the subject ever since man began to philosophize, — that is, 
for more than two thousand years, — it would seem as if 
psychology ere this must have attained the precision and cer- 
tainty of mathematics. But how different is the fact ! I 
42 



494 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

speak hot of a want of agreement in opinion on subordinate 
points, for these minor diversities must be expected in any 
science not strictly demonstrative. Even astronomy abounds 
with them. But metaphysical philosophers have not yet been 
able to settle fundamental principles. They are not yet 
agreed as to the existence of many of the most familiar and 
important intellectual powers and principles of action. The 
systems of Locke and Hume, constructed with great ability, 
were overthrown by Reid ; Stewart differed much from 
Reid ; and Dr. Thomas Brown has powerfully attacked the 
fabric erected by Stewart. And lastly, the phrenologists, 
with no mean ability, have endeavored to show that all these 
philosophers are heaven-wide of the truth, because they have 
so much neglected the influence of the material organs on 
the mental powers. Now, this diversity of result, arrived 
at by men of such profound abilities, shows that there are 
peculiar difficulties in the study of mind, originating, proba- 
bly, in the fact that, in this world, we never see the operation 
of mind apart from a gross material organization. But in 
another state, where no organization will exist, or one far better 
adapted to mental operations, we may hope for such a clarifi- 
cation of the mental eye that the laws of mind will assume 
the precision and certainty of mathematics, and the relations 
between mind and matter, now so obscure, be fully developed. 
Then, I doubt not, the principles of mental science will fur- 
nish a more splendid illustration of the divine perfections than 
any which can now be derived from the material world. 

Will any one believe that the principles of moral science 
and mathematics will be altered or annihilated by the confla- 
gration of the globe ? We believe them no more dependent 
upon the external universe than is the divine existence. God 
exists by a necessity of nature, and these principles have the 



THE NEW EARTH. 495 

same unchanging and eternal origin. If so, no changes in 
the material world can affect them. So far as we understand 
them here, we shall find them true hereafter ; and we shall 
doubtless find that our present knowledge is but the mere twi- 
light of that bright day which will there pour its full light 
upon these subjects. Mathematical and moral truths, which 
we now suppose to be general laws, we shall then find to be, 
in many cases, only the ramifications of principles far wider, 
which we cannot now discover, and which we could not com- 
prehend were they open to inspection. And we shall also 
find that moral laws are as certain and demonstrable as those 
of mathematics ; and that they form the adamantine chain 
which holds together the spiritual world, and gives it symme- 
try and beauty, as mathematics links together the material 
universe. 

Among men who understand biblical interpretation, and 
also the principles of science, the belief in the annihilation of 
the material universe at the close of man's probationary state 
is fast disappearing, and the more scriptural, philosophical, 
and animating doctrine is embraced, that there will be only a 
change of form and condition of our earth and its atmosphere, 
and that the matter of the universe will survive, and succes- 
sively assume new and more beautiful forms, it may be eter- 
nally. If so, all those physical sciences, which do not depend 
upon organic structure, will form subjects of investigation in 
the heavenly world. There will be the heavenly bodies, gov- 
erned by the same laws as at present, and offering a noble 
field for examination. Nor will the heavenly inhabitants 
need, as on earth, visual organs and optical instruments, 
which, at best, afford us only glimpses of the material uni- 
verse. For there, if we rightly conjecture, will they possess 
the power of learning, with almost intuitive certainty and 



496 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

intuitive rapidity, the character and movements of the mos' 
distant worlds. Nay, it may be that they can pass from world 
to world with the velocity of light, and thus become better 
acquainted with their more intimate condition. Thus will the 
astronomy of the celestial world surpass, beyond conception, 
that science which even now is regarded as unequalled for 
its sublimity. 

We cannot be sure through what material medium the mind 
will act in a future world. But the manner in which we know 
heat, light, and electricity to be transmitted, makes it not im- 
possible that the same or a similar medium may be the vehi- 
cle through which thought shall be hereafter transmitted. If 
so, we can easily understand how the mind will be able to 
penetrate into the most recondite nature of bodies, and learn 
the mode in which they act upon one another ; for the curious 
medium which conveys light and heat does penetrate all 
bodies, whether they be solid or gaseous, cold or hot. Hence 
we may learn at a glance, in a future world, more of the in- 
ternal constitution of bodies, and of their mutual action, than 
a whole life on earth, spent in the study of chemistry, will 
unfold. Then, too, shall we doubtless find chemical laws 
operating on a scale of grandeur and extent, limited only by 
the material universe. 

Universally diffused as light, heat, and electricity are, and 
diligently as their phenomena have been studied, yet what 
mystery hangs over their nature and operations ! They seem 
to be too subtile, and to approximate too nearly to immaterial 
substances, to be apprehended by our beclouded intellects. 
When, therefore, our means of perception shall be vastly im- 
proved, as we have reason to believe they will be in eternity, 
these will become noble themes for examination. For who 
can doubt that agents so ethereal in their nature, and appar- 



GEOLOGY OF THE NEW EARTH. 497 

ently indestructible, and even unchanged by any means with 
which we are acquainted, will survive the final catastrophe of 
our world ? Probably, indeed, we are allowed to catch only 
glimpses of their nature and operations on earth, so that we 
may safely anticipate an immense expansion of the electricity 
and optics which will form a part of the science of heaven. 

We have endeavored to show, in a former lecture, that the 
future residence of the righteous will be material ; that it will, 
in fact, be the present earth, purified by the fires of the last 
day, and rising from the final ruin in renovated splendor. 
We have shown that this is the doctrine of Scripture, of phi- 
losophy, and of a majority of the Christian church. A solid 
world, then, will exist, whose geology can be studied by glori- 
fied minds far more accurately and successfully than the globe 
which we inhabit ; for those minds will doubtless be able to 
penetrate the entire mass of the globe, and learn its whole 
structure. The final conflagration may, indeed, for the most 
part, obliterate the traces of present and past organic beings. 
But according to the doctrine of action and reaction in me- 
chanics, in chemistry, in electricity, and in organization, every 
change that has ever passed over the earth has left traces of 
its occurrence which can never be blotted out ; and it is not 
improbable that glorified minds will possess the power of dis- 
covering and reading these records of the past, if not on the 
principle just specified, yet in some other way ; so that the 
entire geological history of our planet will probably pass in 
clear light before them. Points which we see only through 
a glass darkly will then stand forth in full daylight ; and from 
the glimpses we are able to obtain in this world of its present 
geological changes, what a mighty and interesting series will 
be seen by celestial minds ! If, even by the colored rays 
which come upon us through the twilight of this world, we are 
42* 



498 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

able to see so many striking illustrations of the divine ..nar- 
acter engraven on the solid rocks, what a noble volu. ^e of 
religious truth shall be found written there, when the hght of 
heaven shall penetrate the earth's deep foundations ! Those 
foundations, figuratively described in revelation as so many 
precious stones, bearing up a city of pure gold, clear as glass, 
will then reflect a richer light than the costliest literal gems 
which the rocks now yield. The geology of heaven will be 
resplendent with divine glory. 

We see, then, with a few probable exceptions, resulting 
from a difference between the organism of heaven and earth, 
that science will survive the ruin of this world, and in a nobler 
form engage the minds, and interest the hearts, of heaven's 
inhabitants. It will, indeed, form a vast storehouse, whence 
pious minds can draw fuel to kindle into a purer and brighter 
flame their love and their devotion ; for thence will they de- 
rive new and higher developments of the divine character. 
Shall we not, then, admit that to be religious truth on earth 
which in heaven will form the food of perfectly holy minds ? 

The position which I laid dowri, at the outset, that scien- 
tific truth, rightly applied, is religious truth, seems to me most 
clearly established. If admitted, there flow from it several 
inferences of no small interest, which I am constrained to 
present to your consideration. 

In the first place, I infer from- this discussion that the prin- 
ciples of science are a transcript of the Divine Character. 

I mean by this, that the laws of nature, which are synony- 
mous with the principles of science, are not the result of any 
arbitrary and special enactment on the part of the Deity, but 
flow naturally from his perfections ; so that, in fact, the varied 
principles of science are but so many expressions of the per- 
fections of Jehovah. If the universe had only a transient 



SCIENCE PERVERTED. 499 

existence, we might suppose the laws that govern it to be the 
result of a special ordination of the Deity, and destined to 
perish with the annihilation of matter. But since we have no 
evidence that matter will ever perish, and at least probable 
evidence that it will exist forever, the more rational supposi- 
tion is, that its laws result from the nature of things, and are 
only a development of so many features of the divine char- 
acter. If so, then the most important inquiry in the study of 
the sciences is to learn from them the phases in which they 
present the divine perfections. 

In the second place, it does not follow from this subject 
that the most extensive acquisitions in science necessarily im- 
ply the possession of true piety. 

Piety consists in the exercise of right affections of heart 
towards God, excited by religious truth. Now, I have at- 
tempted to show only, that the natural tendency of scientific 
truth is to excite such religious affections ; but that tendency, 
like all other good influences, may be, and often is, resisted. 
Hence a man may reach the loftiest pinnacle of scientific glory 
whose heart has never heaved with one religious emotion. 
He may penetrate to the very holy of holies in nature's tem- 
ple, and yet retain his atheism, in spite of the hallowed influ- 
ences that surround him. Nothing is plainer in theory, and, 
alas ! nothing has been more surely confirmed by experience, 
than that the possession of science is not the possession of 
religion. 

In the third place, what a perversion of science it is to 
employ it against religion ! 

Rightly understood, and fairly interpreted, there is not a 
single scientific truth that does not harmoniously accord with 
revealed as well as natural religion ; and yet, by superficial 
minds, almost every one of these principles has, at one time 



500 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

or another, been regarded as in collision with religion, and 
especially with revelation. One after another have these ap- 
parent discrepancies melted away before the clearer light of 
further examination. And yet, up to the present day, not a 
few, closing their eyes against the lessons of experience, still 
fancy that the responses of science i are not in unison with 
those from revelation. But this is a sentiment which finds no 
place with the profound and unprejudiced philosopher ; for 
he has seen too much of the harmony between the works and 
the word of God to doubt the identity of their origin. He 
knows it to be a sad perversion of scientific truth to use it 
for the discredit of religion. He knows that the inspiration 
of the Almighty breathed the same spirit into science as into 
religion ; and if they utter discordant tones, it must be be- 
cause one or the other has been forced to speak in an unnat- 
ural dialect. 

In the fourth place, how entirely have the natural tenden- 
cies of science been misunderstood, when they have been rep- 
resented as leading to religious scepticism ! 

I do not deny the fact that many scientific men have been 
sceptical. But I maintain that this has been in spite of sci- 
ence, rather than the result of its natural tendency ; for we 
have shown that tendency in all cases to be favorable to piety. 
Other more powerful causes, therefore, must have operated 
to counteract the natural influence of scientific truth in those 
cases where men eminent for science have spurned away 
from them the authority of religion. Among these causes, 
the pride of knowledge is one of the most powerful ; and be- 
fore the mind has attained to very profound views of science, 
this pride does often exert a most disastrous influence upon a 
man's religious feelings. 

He is looked up to as an oracle on other subjects, and why 



CAUSES OF SCEPTICISM. 501 

should he not be equally wise concerning religion? It is nat- 
ural for him to feel desirous, in such circumstances, of rising 
above all vulgar and superstitious views, and of convincing 
his fellow-men that he has made as great discoveries in reli- 
gion as in science. He, therefore, calls in question the pre- 
vailing religious opinions. Having once taken his stand 
against the truth, pride does not allow him to recede, and he 
endeavors to convert scientific truth into weapons against reli- 
gion. And this perversion produces the impression, with those 
not familiar with its natural tendency, that science fosters 
scepticism. 

Another cause of this scepticism is a superficial acquaint- 
ance with the religious bearings of scientific truth. It is one 
thing to master the principles of science in an abstract form, 
and quite a different thing to understand their religious bear- 
ings. Moral reasoning is so different from physical and math- 
ematical, that often a mind which is a prodigy for the latter, 
is a mere Lilliput in the former. And yet that mind may 
fancy itself as profound in the one as in the other, and may, 
therefore, be as tenacious of its errors in religion as of its 
demonstrated verities in science. 

In the following extract it will be seen that Dr. Chalmers 
imputes the religious scepticism connected with science 
chiefly to a superficial acquaintance with science. His re- 
marks may seem unreasonably severe and sweeping ; never- 
theless, they deserve consideration. And they accord with 
the idea of Lord Bacon, who says, " A smattering of philoso- 
phy leads to atheism ; whereas a thorough acquaintance with 
it brings him back again to religion." " We have heard," 
Dr. Chalmers remarks, " that the study of natural science 
disposes to infidelity. But we feel persuaded that this is a 
danger associated only with a slight and partial, never with a 



502 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

deep, and adequate, and comprehensive, view of its princi- 
ples. It is very possible that the conjunction between science 
and scepticism may at present be more frequently realized 
than in former days ; but this is only because, in spite of all 
that is alleged about this our more enlightened day and more 
enlightened public, our science is neither so deeply founded, 
nor of such firm and thorough staple, as it was wont to be. 
We have lost in depth what we have gained in diffusion ; 
having neither the massive erudition, nor the gigantic schol- 
arship, nor the profound and well-laid philosophy of a period 
that has now gone by ; and it is to this that Infidelity stands 
indebted for her triumphs among the scoffers and superficial- 
ists of a half-learned generation. 1 ' — Chalmerses Works, vol. 
vii. p. 262. 

Briefly, but nobly, has Sir John Herschel vindicated science 
from the charge of sceptical tendencies. " Nothing can be 
more unfounded than the objection which has been taken in 
limine by persons, well meaning, perhaps, certainly of narrow 
minds, against the study of natural philosophy, and, indeed, 
against all science, that it fosters in its cultivators an undue 
and overweening self-conceit, leads them to doubt the immor- 
tality of the soul, and to scoff at revealed religion. Its natu- 
ral effect, we may confidently assert, on every well-consti- 
tuted mind, is and must be the direct contrary. No doubt the 
testimony of natural reason, on whatever exercised, must, of 
course, stop short of those truths which it is the object of 
revelation to make known ; but while it places the existence 
and principal attributes of a Deity on such grounds as to ren- 
der doubt absurd, and atheism ridiculous, it unquestionably 
opposes no natural or necessary obstacle to further progress ; 
on the contrary, by cherishing as a vital principle an un- 
bounded spirit of inquiry and ardency of expectation, it 



CHARACTER OF THE TRUE PHILOSOPHER. 503 

unfetters the mind from prejudices of every kind, and leaves it 
open to every impression of a higher nature, which it is sus- 
ceptible of receiving ; guarding only against enthusiasm and 
self-deception by a habit of strict investigation, but encour- 
aging, rather than suppressing, every thing that can offer a 
prospect or hope beyond the present obscure and unsatisfac- 
tory state. The character of the true philosopher is to hope 
all things not impossible, and to believe all things not unrea- 
sonable." — Diss, on Study of Nat. Phil. 

In speaking of geology and revelation, Sir John says, 
" There cannot be two truths in contradiction to one another, 
and a man must have a mind fitted neither for scientific nor 
for religious truth, whose religion can be disturbed by geolo- 
gy, or whose geology can be distorted from its character of 
an inductive science by a determination to accommodate its 
results to preconceived interpretations of the Mosaic cosmog- 
ony." — Dr. J. P. Smith's Lectures, p. viii. 4th edition. 

" We have often mourned," says M'Cosh, " over the 
attempts made to set the works of God against the word of 
God, and thereby excite, propagate, and perpetuate jealousies 
fitted to separate parties that ought to live in closest union. 
In particular, we have always regretted that endeavors should 
have been made to depreciate nature with a view of exalting 
revelation ; it has always appeared to us to be nothing else 
than the degrading of one part of God's works in the hope 
thereby of exalting and recommending another." " Perilous 
as it is at all times for the friends of religion to set themselves 
against natural science, it is especially dangerous in an age 
like the present. 

" It is no profane work that is engaged in by those who, in 
all humility, would endeavor to remove jealousies between 



504 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

parties whom God has joined together, and whom man is not 
at liberty to pat asunder. We are not lowering the dignity 
of science when we command it to do what all the objects 
which it looks at and admires do — when we command it to 
worship God. Nor are we detracting from the honor which 
is due to religion when we press it to take science into its 
service, and accept the homage which it is able to pay. We 
are seeking to exalt both when we show how nature conducts 
man to the threshold of religion, and when from this point we 
bid him look abroad on the wide territories of nature. We 
would aid at the same time both religion and science, by re- 
moving those prejudices against sacred truth which nature has 
been employed to foster ; and we would accomplish this not 
by casting aside and discarding nature, but by rightly in- 
terpreting it. 

" Let not science and religion be reckoned as opposing 
citadels, frowning defiance upon each other, and their troops 
brandishing their armor in hostile attitude. They have too 
many common foes, if they would but think of it, in ignorance 
and prejudice, in passion and vice, under all their forms, to 
admit of their lawfully wasting their strength in a useless 
warfare with each other. Science has a foundation, and so 
has religion ; let them unite their foundations, and the basis 
will be broader, and they will be two compartments of one 
great fabric reared to the glory of God. Let the one be the 
outer and the other the inner court. In the one, let all look, 
and admire, and adore ; and in the other, let those who have 
faith kneel, and pray, and praise. Let the one be the sanc- 
tuary where human learning may present its richest incense 
as an offering to God, and the other the holiest of all, sep- 
arated from it by a veil now rent in twain, and in which, on a 



A COMMON CAUSE. 505 

blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, we pour out the love of a recon- 
ciled heart, and hear the oracles of the living God." — Method 
of the Divine Government, p. 449, et seq. 

In the fifth "place, scientific men and religious men may 
learn from this subject to regard each other as engaged in a 
common cause. 

If it be indeed true that scientific truth, rightly applied, is 
religious truth, then may the religious man be sure that every 
scientific discovery will ultimately contribute to the illustration 
of the character or government of the Deity ; and therefore 
should he encourage and rejoice in all such investigations, 
and bid God speed to the votaries of science. Even though 
he cannot see how the new discovery will illustrate religion, 
and though, when imperfectly developed, it may seem to have 
an unfavorable aspect, he need not fear to confide in the gen- 
eral principle that science and religion are alike of divine 
origin, and must be in harmony. On the other hand, the 
votary of science should remember that the state of society 
most favorable to his pursuits is one in which religion exerts 
the strongest influence. It is for his interest, therefore, merely 
as a lover of science, and much more as a moral and account- 
able agent, to have pure religion prevail. Scientific and reli- 
gious men should, therefore, look upon each other as co-labor- 
ers in a most noble cause — in illustrating the divine character 
and government. All jealousy and narrow-minded exclusive- 
ness should be banished, and side by side should they labor 
in warm-hearted and generous sympathy. Alas ! how different 
from this has been the history of the past ! and, to a great 
extent, how different it is at present ! " A study of the natu- 
ral world," says Professor Sedgwick, " teaches not the truths 
of revealed religion, nor do the truths of religion inform us 
of the inductions of physical science. Hence it is that m#n, 
43 



506 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

whose studies are too much confined to one branch of knowl- 
edge, often learn to overrate themselves, and so become nar- 
row minded. Bigotry is a besetting sin of our nature. Too 
often has it been the attendant of religious zeal ; but it is 
Derhaps the most bitter and unsparing when found among the 
irreligious. A philosopher, not understanding one atom of 
their spirit, will sometimes scoff at the labors of religious 
men ; and one who calls himself religious will, perhaps, 
return a like harsh judgment, and thank God that he is not as 
the philosophers ; forgetting, all the while, that man can 
ascend to no knowledge except by faculties given to him by 
his Creator's hand, and that all natural knowledge is but a 
reflection of the will of God. In harsh judgments, such as 
these, there is not only much folly, but much sin. True wis- 
dom consists in seeing how all the faculties of the mind and 
all parts of knowledge bear upon each other, so as to work 
together to a common end ; ministering at once to the happi- 
ness of man and his Maker's glory." — Discourse on the 
Studies of the University, 5th edition, p. 105, appendix. 

In the sixth place, the subject shows us what is the most im~ 
portant use to be derived from science. 

It does not consist, as men have been supposing, in its 
application to the useful arts, whereby civilization and human 
comfort and happiness are so greatly promoted ; although 
men have thereby been raised from a state of barbarism and 
advanced to a high point on the scale of refinement. It is 
not the application of science as a means of enlarging and 
disciplining the mind ; although this would be a noble result 
of scientific study. But it is its application for the illustra- 
tion of religion. This, I say, is its most important use. For 
what higher or nobler purpose can any pursuit subserve than 
in developing the character, government, and will of that 



SCIENCE AND PIETY. 507 

infinite Being, who is the sum and centre of all perfection and 
happiness? Other objects accomplished by science are im- 
portant, and in the bustle of life they may seem to be its chief 
end. But in the calmness of mature years, when we begin 
to estimate things according to their real value, we shall see 
that the religious bearings of any pursuit far transcend in 
importance all its other relations ; fo.* all its other tendencies 
and uses are limited to this world, ana will, therefore, be tran- 
sient; but every thing which bears the stamp of religion is 
immortal, and every thing which concerns the Deity is infi- 
nite. It is true that but few who are engaged in scientific 
pursuits make much account of their bearings upon man's 
highest interests ; but very different will it be in heaven. 
There, so far as we know, all the applications of science to 
the useful arts will be unknown, and the great object of its 
cultivation will be to gain new and clearer views of the per- 
fections and plans of Jehovah, and thus to awaken towards 
him a deeper reverence and a warmer love. And such should 
be the richest fruit of scientific researches on earth. 

In the seventh place, the subject shows us that those icho are 
the most eminent in science ought to be the most eminent in 
piety. 

I am far from maintaining that science is a sufficient guide 
in religion. On the other hand*, if left to itself, as I fully 
admit, — 

«« It leads to bewilder, and dazzles to blind." 

Nor do I maintain that scientific truth, even when properly 
appreciated, will compare at all, in its influence upon the hu- 
man mind, with those peculiar and higher truths disclosed by 
revelation. All I contend for is, that scientific truth, illustrat- 
ing as it does the divine character, p'ans, and government, 



508 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

ought to fan and feed the flame of true piety in the hearts of 
its cultivators. He, therefore, who knows the most of science 
ought most powerfully to feel this religious influence. He is 
not confined, like the great mass of men, to the outer court 
of nature's magnificent temple, but he is admitted to the inte- 
rior, and allowed to trace its long halls, aisles, and galleries, 
and gaze upon its lofty domes and arches ; nay, as a priest 
he enters the penetralia, the holy of holies, where sacred fire 
is always burning upon the altars, where hovers the glorious 
Schekinah, and where, from a full orchestra, the anthem of 
praise is ever ascending. Petrified, indeed, must be his heart, 
if it catches none of the inspiration of such a spot. He ought 
to go forth from it among his fellow-men with radiant glory 
on his face, like Moses from the holy mount. He who sees 
most of God in his works ought to show the stamp of di- 
vinity upon his character, and lead an eminently holy life. 

Finally, the subject gives great interest and dignity to the 
study of science. 

It is not strange that the religious man should sometimes 
find his ardor damped in the pursuit of some branches of 
knowledge, by the melancholy reflection that they can be of 
no use beyond this world, and will exist only as objects of 
memory in eternity. He may have devoted many a toilsome 
year to the details and manipulations of the arts ; and, so far 
as this world is concerned, his labors have been eminently 
salutary and interesting. But all his labors and researches 
can be of no avail on the other side of the grave ; and he 
cannot but feel sad that so much study and efforts should 
leave results no more permanent. Or he may have given his 
best days to loading his memory with those tongues which 
the Scriptures assure us shall cease ; or to those details of 
material organization which can have no place or antitype in 



PERMANENT PRINCIPLES. 509 

the future world. Interesting, therefore, as such pursuits have 
been on earth, nay, indispensable as they are to the well being 
and progress of human society, it is melancholy to realize that 
they form a part of that knowledge which will vanish away. 

The mind delights in the prospect of again turning its atten- 
tion to those branches of knowledge which have engrossed 
and interested it on earth, and of doing this under circum- 
stances far more favorable to their investigation. And such 
an anticipation he may reasonably indulge, who devotes him- 
self on earth to any branch of knowledge not dependent on 
arrangements and organizations peculiar to this world. He 
may be confident that he is investigating those principles 
which will form a part of the science of heaven. Should he 
ever reach that pure world, he knows that the clogs which 
now weigh down his mind will drop off, and the clouds that 
obscure his vision will clear away, and that a brighter sun 
will pour its radiance upon his path. He is filling his mind 
with principles that are immortal. He is engaged in pursuits 
to which glorified and angelic minds are devoting their lofty 
powers. Other branches of knowledge, highly esteemed 
among men, shall pass away with the destruction of this 
world. The baseless hypotheses of science, falsely so called, 
whether moral, intellectual, or physical, and the airy phan- 
toms of a light and fictitious literature, shall all pass into the 
limbo of forgetfulness. But the principles of true science, 
constituting, as they do, the pillars of the universe, shall bear 
up that universe forever. How many questions of deep in- 
terest, respecting his favorite science, must the philosopher in 
this world leave unanswered, how many points unsettled ! 
But when he stands upon the vantage-ground of another world, 
all these points shall be seen in the bright transparencies of 
heaven. In this world, the votaries of science may be 
43* 



510 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 

compared with the aborigines who dwell around some one of 
the principal sources of the River Amazon. They have been 
able, perhaps, to trace one or two, or it may be a dozen, of 
its tributaries, from their commencement in some mountain 
spring, and to follow them onwards as they enlarge by uniting, 
so as to bear along the frail canoes, in which, perhaps, they 
pass a few hundred miles towards the ocean. On the right 
and on the left, a multitude of other tributaries swell the 
stream which carries them onward, until it seems to them a 
mighty river. But they are ignorant of the hundred other 
tributaries which drain the vast eastern slope of the Andes, 
and sweep over the wide plains, till their united waters have 
formed the majestic Amazon. Of that river in its full glory, 
and especially of the immense ocean that lies beyond, the 
natives have no conception ; unless, perhaps, some individual, 
more daring than the rest, has floated onward till his aston- 
ished eye could scarcely discern the shore on either hand, 
and before him he saw the illimitable Atlantic, whitened by 
the mariner's sail and the crested waves ; and he may have 
gone back to tell his unbelieving countrymen the marvellous 
story. Just so is it with men of science. They are able to 
trace with clearness a few rills of truth from the fountain 
head, and to follow them onward till they unite in a great 
principle, which at first men fancy is the chief law of the uni- 
verse. But as they venture still farther onward, they find 
new tributary truths coming in on either side, to form a prin- 
ciple or law still more broad and comprehensive. Yet it is 
only a few gifted and adventurous minds that are able, from 
some advanced mountain top, to catch a glimpse of the entire 
stream of truth, formed by the harmonious union of all prin- 
ciples, and flowing on majestically into the boundless ocean 
of all knowledge, the Infinite Mind. But when the Christian 



THE GREAT OCEAN OF TRUTH. 511 

philosopher shall be permitted to resume the study of science 
in a future world, with powers of investigation enlarged and 
clarified, and all obstacles removed, he will be able to trace 
onward the various ramifications of truth, till they unite into 
higher and higher principles, and become one in that centre 
of centres, the Divine Mind. That is the Ocean from which 
all truth originally sprang, and to which it ultimately returns. 
To trace out the shores of that shoreless Sea, to measure its 
measureless extent, and to fathom its unfathomable depths, 
will be the noble and the joyous work of eternal ages. And 
yet eternal ages may pass by and see the work only begun. 



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